The Good Life - Help Wanted Nights

Unfortunately, life isn’t like Madden 2008 - people don’t usually get to choose the degree of difficulty. Some days are simply harder than others; no one gets to decide which days they’ll play at “Rookie” level and which days they’ll play at “All-Madden” level. To make matters worse, there are people who are blessed with a more-than-level playing field, while others have lives where it seems they’re a Pop Warner football team competing against Peyton Manning or Tom Brady nearly every day. Thus, when allowed to have a say in the matter, most people willingly select the high road, the easy way out, the path of least resistance. And who can blame them? Why make life more difficult than it already is?

Well, if you’re Tim Kasher & The Good Life, you make the opposite decision and willfully set the bar of success as high as possible. So, with the release of the band’s fourth album, Help Wanted Nights, the band takes on all comers. Whether it’s Kasher’s early success with his band Cursive, the accolades the group has received for their earlier albums, being signed to Saddle Creek Records (home to the rather popular Conor Oberst), or lyrical predecessors such as Bruce Springsteen, The Good Life has opted for a high-stakes musical scuffle. But wouldn’t you know it - the album’s plaintive, mournful tunes stand up well against the competition they selected for themselves.

Originally designed to be the soundtrack for a (now-finished) screenplay that Kasher began writing in 2006, Help Wanted Nights is a record that chronicles a cascading collection of emotionally charged stories. And this is where the album pulls victory from the jaws of defeat - these are not sad bastard, whiny tales detailing loves lost and hearts being broken. With tracks like “Heartbroke,” “You Don’t Feel Like Home To Me,” and “Some Tragedy” serving as premium samples, these are songs where the protagonist is up-front and honest about his pain, yet refuses to wallow and bathe in it. Granted, there are times you wish for a bit less bravado from the lead character, but these are not heart-on-your-sleeve type compositions here; the emotions on Help Wanted Nights are dark, deep-set, and deeply felt. This is easily The Good Life’s best work yet.