''You Can't Win'' is the third full-length by

Dolorean Dolorean is an American rock band based in Portland, Oregon. Their current line-up is Al James, guitar/vocals, Jay Clarke, organ/piano, Ben Nugent, drums/percussion/vocals, James Adair, bass, and Jon Neufeld, guitar. They have released four stu ...

, released in 2007 on

Yep Roc Records Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Nick Lowe, Paul W ...

. The album was largely well received by professional critics, and met with positive reviews in '' Q'' and ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

''.

History

Production

On a post on Yep Roc's Website, frontman Al James wrote "

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

used to book studio time and shows for himself and Crazy Horse without rehearsing new songs with the band." James booked several shows and several subsequent dates in a recording studio as a result. "The performances were raw, passionate, and loose - everything that we hadn't been able to capture on previous recordings." Beyond Dolorean,

Emil Amos Holy Sons is a one-man solo band built around American songwriter and drummer Emil Amos. Amos is notable for releasing "genre-bending" albums, according to ''LA Weekly'' music reviewer Chris Martins, and for being a prolific songwriter; one accou ...

of Holy Sons also contributed guitar.

Release and reception

''You Can't Win'' was released on February 20, 2007 on

Yep Roc Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Nick Lowe, Paul W ...

. That year it would come out as a digital download, a CD, and a

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

. The album was largely well received by professional critics, and met with positive reviews in '' Q'' and ''

UnCut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

.''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave it a rating of 3.5/5, and reviewer Margaret Reges described the album as "the kind of terrain traversed by other introspective, rustic, youngish men like Jeff Tweedy,

Joe Purdy Joe Purdy is an American singer/songwriter who has released fourteen albums over the last fifteen years. In 2017, Purdy made his acting debut in ''American Folk.'' Career Purdy's albums ''Paris in the Morning'' and ''You Can Tell Georgia'' h ...

, and (to an extent)

Will Oldham Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

-- the kind of place you go if you're looking for empty stretches of pavement and hulking, rusted-out factories moldering in the tall grass. Dolorean's lead singer and songwriter, Al James, is interested in stories about men on the outskirts; ''You Can't Win'', to put it in the words of writer

James Salter James Arnold Horowitz (June 10, 1925 – June 19, 2015), better known as James Salter, his pen name and later-adopted legal name, was an American novelist and short-story writer. Originally a career officer and pilot in the United States Air For ...

, concerns itself with 'a breed of aimless wanderers' who 'have an infuriating power, that of condemned men. They can talk to anybody; they can speak the truth.'"

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

gave it 7/10, and wrote that "Dolorean play in a relaxed lockstep befitting James’ tales of emotional drift." '' No Depression'' gave it a glowing review.

Track listing

All songs written by Al James. All songs arranged and performed by Dolorean.

Personnel

;Dolorean *Al James - vocals, acoustic guitar *James Adair - bass guitar *Jay Clarke - piano, organ *Ben Nugent - drums, percussion, vocals ;Additional personnel *

- electric guitar, vocals

References

External links

DoloreanMusic.com
{{Authority control 2007 albums Dolorean albums Yep Roc Records albums