Singer-songwriter Richard Buckner performs the kind of gentle-minded, earnest, vaguely country music that Wilco specialized in before they discovered the avant tones of Tortoise. And though Buckner’s low-key offerings don’t quite have the sunny bounce of Wilco’s early recordings, his eagerness both to work within and to subvert the conventional framework of country rock, along with his air of careful consideration, makes Wilco a useful point of comparison for his songwriting.
Buckner recorded Impasse, his first album of original material since 1998’s Since, in a cabin in Edmonton, with his wife, Penny Jo, on drums. He plays everything else here, from organ to vibraphone, and these uncharacteristic instrumental flourishes contribute to his deepest-sounding release yet. Like all of his albums, Impasse is stubbornly mournful, and though there’s a little more melodic variety than usual, there’s not too much. He includes songs that chug along like rock tunes — "(A Year Ahead) . . . & a Light" — and one or two vaguely poppy tracks, like "Hoping Wishers Never Lose." But the bulk of Impasse amounts to the expected assortment of memorable, low-key ballads, like the loser anti-anthem "Born into Giving It Up." And that’s just what true Buckner fans keep coming back for.