I appreciate Winston's comments on Word and Ring.  He has made me appreciate
the vocals on Word in a way I didn't before, but I must disagree that Word
is their "masterpiece."  IMHO, Boylan Heights is their masterpiece, with Fun
and Games a close second.  Yet I think part of what I like is what WInston
pointed out, the difference between live Connells and studio, the difference
also between belting it out and the soft studio understatement.  To me, the
Connells are beautiful in a way that Buffalo Tom or Green on Red are
beautiful:  they are unabashedly harsh and soulful, and yet thereby transcend
their own harshest deepfelt emotions and talent to tap into a thread of
true lyricality --the likes of which I feel they are unequaled in.  Yet, I
sense that the studio sound on Ring shows a direction that is apparent (I think
even on Word) in its attempt to go directly to the lyricality.  Understatement
in their work used to be a kind of riptide or undertow --and this is still
apparent in their live performances, which are as straight-up enthusiastic
as any I have seen.  Yet on Ring, and even occasionally on Word, they too
often see it as their main current:  by being too directly understated, they
sound self-conscious or soft.  As Wittgenstein and others have said about
philosophical method:  often the best method is that of "indirection".  I
wish they could regain a little of the unselfconscious soulfullness, humor,
and even rage and irony, that allowed the lyricality to naturally emerge.
IMHO and all that.  Thanks Winston....       Nadav Caine