Every couple of months or so, we get a little care package from Justin Ripley. It isn't filled with cookies or mittens but rather handmade CD-Rs with somewhere between 16 and 28 songs. Apparently, Ripley hasn't done jack shit since moving from Lawrence to Seattle, preferring instead to lock himself in his bedroom and make albums while his wife slips slices of bologna under his door. The endeavor is paying off because each album gets a little bit better. Europeans is slightly more accessible than his previous release, Vowels, or maybe just shorter, but either way, it's got some fine tunes on it. "Least Lashes" is awash in lilting melodies and ladylike harmonies, while "Europeans" and "Remain Intact, Old Figurine" are simultaneously quirky, funny and catchy (probably his biggest strengths as a songwriter). The only downside is that many of Ripley's recordings still seem like sketches. If he'd consider making a studio album with drums and stuff, we'd gladly accept some mac and cheese in the meantime.
