The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You (studio album) by Neko Case

Spotify version has Madonna of the Wasps, a Robyn Hitchcock cover which is off the hook.

The album is just OK.
Afraid is the best song!

From buzzdainer 12/19/2016 22:53

I saw Neko Case play live in Atlanta in support of this album, and although it's the only time I've ever seen her, I can't imagine it was her best performance. I give her credit for perseverance, though: she was horribly sick, and carried on with the show despite an obvious case of laryngitis (she couldn't sing "Deep Red Bells" at all, and took it off the set list). So the energy level was pretty low, but she toughed it out. One thing that low-key performance encouraged me to do was pay closer attention to the songs, which were, as they usually are with Neko, of high quality. My favorite track from this album is "Ragtime," with its high lonesome lyrics: "Cover the shapes and erase the date / This could be any evening in any place / The blizzard blows from left to right / Which is funny cause the piano's playing "Summertime" from 1935." Yup, those feelings are timeless, all right, and I know them well.

From paladisiac 01/02/2014 23:23

Neko allows us to peek a little into her personal state of being while moving a little further from her alt-country beginnings and closer to the indie pop sensibilities of the new pornographers. It seems like a sequel of sorts to "middle cyclone", maybe even a response in parts (like "Man" reprising "people got a lotta nerve" or "local girl" reprising a far-off POV of "this tornado loves you"), burrowing further into her personal life to inform these songs, especially the abstract, haunting, near-a-capella "nearly midnight, honolulu". Even New Pornographers' comparisons are really outdated now as she's moved into her own twist of indie alt-country-folk-rock, like the sparse WTF?! of "where did i leave that fire" with its submarine effects.

Impressive album!

From zdwyatt 10/22/2013 19:53

I respect that Neko Case doesn't let herself get lazy. She has an amazing voice and could coast to the bank on pretty songs with long notes. Instead, she puts out albums like this. That said, this one is pretty uneven. There's some good songs, and some forgettable ones. Most damning is the lack of any *great* songs.