Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Whisper it – Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is an even better album than Come’s debut, the hailed Eleven:Eleven. Something in the performances here is more direct, and the interplay between the four members is even more combustible than before. Perhaps the production is a little cleaner, but that works to the album’s benefit – all the dimensions of the Thalia Zedek / Chris Brokaw guitar interplay are clearly in evidence, nothing’s obscured or blurred. Most importantly, the clarity of the production mirrors the intensity of the songs, clearing a space for Zedek’s voice to grow in richness and deepen in grain. There’s greater range in general, in fact, from the chilly sadnesses of “German Song” and “Arrive”, to the sucker punches landed by “In/Out” and “Poison,” though the peak might be the sea-sick blues of “Let’s Get Lost.”