Our
Lives, for example, is the opening track. A World-flavored,
David Byrne-ish tune, with disco-danceable percs and a marimba-lead
melody, then sealed tight with Jones' easy-to-sing-along-with
chorused vox. It's a viral-inducing, irresistible piece of work,
and a pretty far piece from your typical lofi stuff. This opening is
followed up by the easy-in alt-rock "Diced Gold"; a vaguely
familiar rock-pop number with definitely unfamiliar breaks and
bridges. Then, the loveable straight-up rock of "Butcher In
The Sky" enters as a moody & somber, yet
easy-to-air-guitar-and-bellow-along-with rock anthem. Next, the
cinematically-familiar "Perfect Knots" gives us a
softer, jazzy, piano & drum & bass number, with Jones' vox
gently luring us close before skewering us with a dramatic piano
arpeggio - Surprisingly subtle stuff from a guy known for lofi.
The
next track though, "The Deaf Words", obliterates the
previous gentle touch with thick rock-steady guitar thrash, and then
kills it with an almost-too-abrupt fake ending. "Alibi"
brings intimacy as Jones' picks the acoustic guitar along folksy
chord progressions, but not dipping into folk art. And the last
track, "Coffin Electricity", seals and delivers the package
with a more familiar driving-rock theme.
And
when you look back over this collection, the alt rock and jazz and
folk and thrashing-rock, the hard and soft motifs, the subtle and
not-so-subtle, you see a variety of influences and sounds; none of
which overpower, and all of which comprise a masterful whole.
Stepping up his production game, Jones has deftly navigated past the
Charybdis
of
indie releases - No track sounds like another. And all shine with the
happy confluence of professionally-handled tech meeting
masterfully-generated art. For a first step into a brave new
studio-clean world, it's off-the-charts good, and one of the best
Austin-based releases this year. -Scott
Osborn
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