The Milk Carton Kids Lost Cause Lover Fool LP

TAS Rated 4/5 Music, 4.5/5 Sonics in the September 2026 Issue of The Absolute Sound!

On their seventh studio album, Lost Cause Lover Fool, The Milk Carton Kids deliver nine songs that, more than ever, invite listeners to lean in close and hover in the small moments the album magnifies.

Much has changed since The Milk Carton Kids — Los Angeles-based singer-songwriters Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan — burst on the Folk scene in 2011. And The Milk Carton Kids have changed too. But at least one constant remains. Pattengale and Ryan continue to make music that entices us turn down the volume on a chaotic world and dwell as long as possible on what matters most.

With rootsy arrangements, Lost Cause Lover Fool expands on the duo's signature minimalist sound their fans love while also, somehow, making it even smaller. Lost Cause Lover Fool begins with the lonesome pluck and strum of the banjo on "Blue Water." Often employed either for lightning-speed or rhythm, here the banjo is handled carefully, with reticence, so that it feels more like light cast across a stretch of grass than a whole bluegrass instrument. Lyrically, this album-opener zooms in on a snapshot of a man walking along a riverside, remembering the child that used to lay on his chest who has now grown to share his worried mind. It's a moment so small it might easily have been dismissed, except that it holds an emotion as universal as it is fleeting.

Lost Cause Lover Fool magnifies many such small moments, turns them into mesmerizing worlds, and reminds us — pleads with us — to pay attention to them as they go by.

The strength of the Milk Carton Kids rests in their seamlessly blended Everly Brothers-like vocals and guitar interplay ... The sparse, acoustic arrangements are enhanced by a blush of mandolin, a bit of dobro, a taste of banjo, and, occasionally, bassist Dennis Crouch. 'I'll Go Home from Here,' 'Blinded and Smiling,' and 'A Friend Like You' exhibit lightly brushed percussion. For the most part, though, less is best, and few acts can captivate as the Milk Carton Kids do on their tender cover of Nashville singer and songwriter Maya de Vitry's sad, beautiful ballad 'Ribbon.' Two voices locked in perfect harmony.