Sidling up to a posthumous album can be a tricky task, especially if it’s from an artist who’s close to your heart. The temptation to view things through a lens tinted by their passing is tough to resist. But Broken Homes and Gardens, the record completed just weeks before Michael Hurley’s death, could have come from any point in his discography — the last link in the hitherto unbroken chain the maverick troubadour began forging more than 60 years ago.
Hurley — who passed away in April 2025 at age 83 — first found his feet on downtown New York City’s ‘60s underground scene, alongside boundary-bludgeoning outliers like The Holy Modal Rounders and The Fugs. He spent the ensuing decades quietly becoming the quintessential cult…