The Way We Move

Recorded in four days in a 100-year-old Greek Revival house in upstate New York, The Way We Move is another fine outing from a young troubadour wise beyond his years. With his primitive, acoustic-based approach, he easily falls into the rougher edges of the alt-country scene. Yet Langhorne Slim (a.k.a. Sean Scolnick of Langhorne, Pa.) transcends the genre's usual limitations with a voice well-suited to recreating the kind of beatnik wanderlust that pulsed throughout Jack Kerouac's prose. Unvarnished in the way that Bob Dylan approached performance, Slim uses his brokenhearted rasp to reach the emotional truths of his road-worn songs. Featuring a small band called The Law—highlighted by David Moore's keyboard accompaniment—The Way We Move captures the vibe of a group playing in a room. Allegedly 26 songs were cut for this set, and these 14 were chosen. That extra cushion means the songs here have an extra spark. The band even catches a tight little groove for "Fire," which is among the album's best moments.