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Album Review : Lexi Pifer's Feeding a Wolf

By John Hubner

Fort Wayne Reader

2018-02-15

Lexi Pifer may have left the Fort for entertaining on cruise ships on the open seas, adventuring on bright windswept shores, and taking song requests on Facebook Live feeds from parts unknown, but Lexi is still a Fort Wayne gal through and through. From growing up in Fort Wayne in a musical family to musical theater in school to getting a music degree at (former) IPFW, Pifer was molded here. She was given the goods she needed to make it out in the world.

For the past few years Lexi has been writing and honing a handful of songs, waiting for the right time to share them with the world. It seems 2018 is the right time. Feeding a Wolf is a five song EP available over at Lexi's Bandcamp page for a "pay what you want" option. It's a splendid piece of singer/songwriter fare that shows how much Pifer has grown as a writer and performer. She lays her heart out for all to see and hear on this one.

"Guilty As I Lay" is perfect introduction as it gives us everything that Pifer excels in: melody, beautiful vocalization, and a knack for subtle storytelling. As she opens the song with her strumming her guitar, the track is reminiscent of Wilco's Sky Blue Sky opener "Either Way". A story of bad choices and relationships that are never going to end in a good way, "Guilty As I Lay" resonates with both classic Joni Mitchell vibes and the late Amy Winehouse.

"Cigarette Song (Trouble Tonight)" has similar themes but with more of a mournful soul to it. It's a look into an immediate future filled with bad decisions, empty whiskey glasses, and the haze of cigarette smoke in the air. In the musical world of Lexi Pifer there seems to be a bevy of questionable guys doing questionable things. Love can be a cruel thing when it's reciprocated only when it's convenient. "Cigarette Song(Trouble Tonight)" is proof of that.

"Let Me Go" is a bluesy, woozy number that as an acoustic/vocal number is enticing. I'd love to hear Pifer backed by some local cats like The Sad Bastards on a track like this. This one would move and groove beautifully with the backing of some crusty rock and rollers backing Ms. Pifer. Still, as it stands it's a great tune.

Feeding a Wolf was made with the help of Pifer's friend Cody Pelchat who recorded, mixed, and mastered the album. It's a simple production, but one that seems to buzz with a raw energy. Small moments of double tracking vocals or faint echoes add to the intimate atmosphere created with the songs.

Elsewhere, "Don't Worry About Me" has a summertime feel to it. In comparison to what came before the song has an upbeat, uptempo feel. It's less about two people hurting each other in the throes of late night liaisons and early morning misunderstandings and more about two souls crossing paths just long enough to know there could be something there. Unfortunately, life usually has other plans for us. Pifer sings "if it ain't to late/why don't you call me when you make it back to the states", as the song moves along in a deceptively upbeat manner. By the end you hope the guy picks up the phone.

"Feeding a Wolf” closes out the EP on a bluesy, melancholy vibe. The title track encapsulates all that came before it. It's a song about circumstances, giving of yourself into something or someone that will only cause you pain in the end. "So I'm drinking again but that whiskey wont help/ I'd do anything to get me out of my hell/ eyes grow weary/ i guess ill pour another/something,anything, to put me under", Lexi sings as the song moves along, more like a eulogy to love than an ode. She closes the song with the line "you cant keep feeding a wolf and think it wont come back". It's about as honest a line as you'll hear.

Lexi Pifer has laid out some serious soul and feels on Feeding a Wolf. It's a preview of what will come from such a talented artist and Fort Wayne native. Perhaps the next album can be ornamented with some Fort Wayne all-stars and make it a whiskey-soaked, boozy rock and roll affair. I'd love to hear an album with Lexi Pifer backed by some swashbuckling rock and rollers. Maybe a CS3 blowout album release show?

Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself. Give Lexi Pifer's Feeding a Wolf a listen. Download for what you want to pay, too. Head over to her Bandcamp page at https://lexipifer.bandcamp.com/album/feeding-a-wolf.