From its slippery five-note clarinet opener to the ragtime-and-blues rhythms that follow, First Light wears its yearning for the gentler days of yore on its sleeve. Literally – the album sleeve features Turner Cody , sometime bassist for Herman Düne, and his musical crew in front of a graffiti-scrawled Brooklyn wall. Cody, bearded and black-suited, stares out from beneath the brim of a fedora like a 19th-century angel of death. First Light , Cody’s second solo offering, bounces along like an exuberant retriever with layered guitars, Wurlitzer and shuffling percussion, while Benny Goodman-style clarinet, viola, glockenspiel and soft backing vocals slip in and out like friendly neighbours.

Each track tells a goofy, tender, rueful tale, skipping from contemporary New York to the Midwest of a century ago. Cody’s warm, faintly nasal voice recalls Neil Young on Heart of Gold or a younger, gentler Dylan, while his lazily rapid-fire delivery and exaggerated American vowels are unmistakably of Jonathan Richman-Jeffrey Lewis extraction. The lo-fi production and mostly live takes lend the album an aura of ramshackle charm, especially in the instrumental solos, but it’s the sound of a relaxed yet tight outfit with skill and familiarity to spare.

The instantly appealing ‘Camptown Ladies’ is a rollicking tale of a down-on-his-luck musician. After an accordion-selling mission gone wrong, Cody deadpans, “They left me on the 14th floor, strangled like an albacore, screaming like a eunuch cockatoo.” The album’s title track asserts itself after a few more listens. It’s a softly burbling delight, Cody’s voice velvety and wistful as he reassures his companion, like a cheery TS Eliot, “I’ve seen apparitions too; I’ve heard them weep forlorn. Their fate is not what waits for you – your rose is not so thorned”. But those are rare moments of optimism. On the sunny-tempoed heartbreaker ‘Underground’, he begs, “Mama, take me down to where the trumpets do not blow so loud… Mama, take me down to where the neon lights don’t glow so proud”. Though the last few tracks of the 14 begin to blend into one another, Cody’s winsome delivery is always enthralling and affecting. Listen after listen, First Light remains a tender yet spirited delight.
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Links
Turner Cody [myspace ]