In concentrating on a batch of songs dealing with the fallout from a soured relationship, Jean Caffeine flirts with the possibility of making a Southwestern Exile In Guyville or even (yikes!) a Texan Jagged Little Pill. Fortunately, the turf she treads upon with Knocked Down 7 Times Got Up 8 is closer to the hallowed ground of Lucinda Williams 1988 eponymous LP, that of an independent woman in her 30s whos been beaten up by love and who knows she deserves better.
The moods here run the gamut from venomous in The Last Hurrah (aimed at her ex, as he goes for a dish of fresh meat: Every night is a bachelor party, but you never get to your wedding night) and Tough Act to Follow (I know an old fuck cant compete with a new one), to withdrawn in The Sea; from flirtatious in Everybody Needs Someone to Think About to cautious in Worth the Wait.
Caffeines You Cant Have My Heart serves as a cynical sister to Lucindas Am I Too Blue. Whereas Williams offers her lover the shelter of her embrace, such a gesture is not quite as warm coming from Caffeine. Shell hold you, sure, but dont mistake that for love, buddy. You cant have her heart; she gave it away. Things You Didnt Say is also a sad flipside to another of Williams tunes, Lines Around Your Eyes. While Lucinda revels in the saving graces of her boys wrinkles, Caffeine looks into those same features and sees the true feelings the coward is afraid to vocalize.
Suffice to say, this is basically a lyricists album. The music tends to be plain (though not unmem_orable) acoustic-based rock n roll, often starting with the sole strum of Caffeines guitar and finishing up like Beggars Banquet. The one shining exception is the ornate closer Watching the Clouds, which producer Lars Goransson turns into a Spector_esque mood piece, finishing off the otherwise arid soundscape with a cavalcade of sound like ending a dry, dusty day with a rainstorm. Nice touch. It almost makes one feel like maybe theres relief around the bend for the songstress.