Chickens and Pigs: See Through Soul

Chickens and Pigs singer/guitarist Jeff Evans often says that his songs are mostly about food or animals, which is a bit misleading. Sometimes a pig is a pig, but in “Green Lights” it’s a metaphor for any number of characters. Other times a dog is a dog, as in “Molly Wolly Doodle,” a sweet sing-along ode to Evans’ dog who’s now barking down from heaven. The hook in these stripped-down bouts of PBR poetry and acoustic strumming is his ability to turn a phrase that is both childlike and allegorical, steeped in depression and tongue-in-cheek humor. See Through Soul balances introspective moments with “aw shucks” inflections, and when he wheezes “You put the ‘u’ in douche bag” in the song “U,” it’s hard not to relate to his quietly gruff but unmistakably human voice. (Self-released) 4 out of 5 stars.