Phases & Stages

Lee Hazlewood

Cake or Death (Ever)

Lee Hazlewood's waiting around to die, but this isn't his teary swan song. The 78-year-old baritone crooner that made Nancy Sinatra's boots for walking has been rediscovered by indie icons like Beck, Jarvis Cocker, and the Tindersticks. He even has a MySpace page. And he's pissed here in his twilight years. On Cake or Death, a title borrowed from unlikely hero Eddie Izzard, Hazelwood gets political; "Baghdad Knights" is told from a soldier's point of view, narrated over a snaky guitar line and marching-pace drums. In a serendipitous twist, the innuendo-filled Lee/Nancy duet "Some Velvet Morning" gets rehashed by his 8-year-old granddaughter. Weird, yes, but there are pleasant melodies elsewhere ("Please Come to Boston," "The Old Man"), to soothe when his attempts at deadpan ("Fred Freud," "White People Thing") hit with a thud. Hazlewood won't be remembered for Cake or Death, but what's it to us – it's his death album. Either way, he's already had his cake.