Mishka Shubaly

How to Make a Bad Situation Worse

(Terrasoul)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

When you crash and burn, when you wake up hungover for the nineteenth afternoon in a row, Mishka Shubaly’s How To Make A Bad Situation Worse is there for you.  “Hey,” the album says.  “I’ve been there, too.  In fact, I’ve probably been lower.”  That’s not an actual lyric, of course.  The actual lyrics are lines like:  “If I’m a bad drunk, well, it’s not for lack of practice… This is no modern romance / Cuz I’m going home in a fucking ambulance.”

As those lines suggest, Shubaly’s fractured folk songs aren’t morbidly melancholy; instead, there’s an indomitable sense of humor (albeit dark, droll humor) running through the album.  He gets off to a hot start with “The Only One Drinking Tonight,” what seems to be universally agreed upon as the catchiest song in the batch, as a radio-friendly edit is also included at the end of the album.

Vocally, Shubaly is like a ramshackle Jay Farrar (Son Volt/Uncle Tupelo), another songwriter familiar with the hour of last calls and bad decisions.  How To Make A Bad Situation Worse is a bit one note, and perhaps best digested as a listener-curated EP.  “Ghost of the Girl” changes things up, going for an all-out rock approach - which clearly isn’t Shubaly’s strong suit as a songwriter (or singer).  There are some lighter melodic flourishes sprinkled throughout to pleasing effect, like the sprightly keys on “When I Was Young” and the light orchestral swell of “Kansas City Misery.”  Those two tracks also benefit from female backing harmonies that are perfectly deployed, offering support without overpowering in the way that can happen sometimes in lo-fi endeavors.