Really, Sasha?

Last year, I posted a couple of examples of what I thought was wonderful writing by New Yorker pop music critic, Sasha Frere-Jones. In both cases, his comparisons were surprising and intriguing, making me want to hear the music he was writing about. But this week he has let me down—or perhaps his editors have let him down. In the current issue (August 24, 2009), he writes, "Cohen's voice has shed its honking quality and grown darker and looser, like a tire ripped open." Sorry, but I don't buy it, Sasha. How does a voice sound like what the inside of a tire looks like? It's a weak image that doesn't help me understand how his voice has changed over the years.