Wrong-Eyed Jesus! (Mysterious Tale of How I Shouted)

by Jason AnkenyJim White's debut album is a cinematic collection of Appalachia-inspired country-folk rendered with a gothic sensibility and junkyard atmospherics (the inclusion of Tom Waits collaborator Ralph Carney on several tracks lends the record a distinctly Waits-ish veneer). Drawing on his bizarre life experiences and troubled Pentecostal upbringing, White's narratives are surreal and crazed, shot through with disturbing spiritual imagery and backwoods dementia; a strangely beautiful record, Wrong-Eyed Jesus! is a fine introduction to a uniquely twisted talent.