Album Review: The Milk Carton Kids - Monterey

On stage Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan offset their earnest folk music with self-effacing humour, yet their albums are wholly musical affairs that have in the past found them lacking personality and spirit.

Monterey corrects that somewhat with their strongest songwriting to date but that depth of character is still missing, preventing the album from becoming truly compelling. Their calling card remains their dynamic acoustic guitar playing, their sublime near-telepathic vocal harmonies and their ability to conjure a yearning ache in their voices akin to Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.