The New Orleans Bingo! Show, Vol II: For a Life Ever Bright (Independent)

Whether it’s the music box lullaby that ends “In a Lounge with Broken Wings,” numerous circus and burlesque scores, or what sounds like ukulele and kazoo in “Shoeshine Blues,” there’s something delightfully New Orleans and timeless about Volume II: For Life Ever Bright—like anything coming from New Orleans Bingo! Show.

This hodgepodge, strung together uninterrupted from track to track, functions not only as an homage to the last 100-plus years of show music, but it sounds fantastic and diverse in the each track. The electric piano provides the backbone for each track, but there’s always a surprise factor, whether it’s the unconventional use of toys, an oddly familiar moment, or clever lyricism.

“For A Life Ever Bright,” an acoustic ballad which is perhaps the most delicate song on the album, really gives vocalist Clint Maedgen away. But, then you have “Lost and Found,” where you find yourself listening to an ’80s drumbox beat, once again weaving together decades and genres. The New Orleans Bingo! Show will making you feel like a “winnah” each time put Volume II on,