Blind Man's Zoo

<i>Blind Man’s Zoo</i> further refines the alternative folk-rock sound of 10,000 Maniac’s breakthrough album <i>In My Tribe</i>, resulting in an album that feels lightly rustic in tone, but slick and cosmopolitan in its presentation. Natalie Merchant’s voice sounds bolder and more theatrical this time around, while the band experiments with a muted, tasteful variation on Motown grooves that they’d more fully explore on their next album. “Trouble Me”, a ballad Merchant wrote about her father with keyboard player Dennis Drew, is the standout track here. It’s a remarkably compassionate piece of music, with Merchant gently offering to listen to someone who’s become withdrawn and unwilling to share their burdens. “Eat for Two”, a jittery number about a young girl who’s pregnant but too far along to consider an abortion, is nearly as strong and just as empathetic in its portrayal of the character’s ambivalence about impending motherhood. Peter Asher’s production style nudges 10,000 Maniacs a bit too far into an aggressively clean tastefulness on a lot of <i>Blind Man’s Zoo</i>, but the record is broken up by a few outliers that keep it from sounding too flat and same-y. “Headstrong”, an anthemic rocker written by Merchant, is uncharacteristically forceful, and seems like a response to their peers in R.E.M. moving towards an arena-ready style informed by post-punk guitar aesthetics on <i>Document</i> and <i>Green</i>. “You Happy Puppet”, mainly written by guitarist Robert Buck, brings a light swing and grooviness to the record, but stops short of committing to full funkiness.