To quote the man Matt Arbogast himself, “This fucker sounds just like Tom Waits, Do we need another Tom Waits?” Well, for much of the latest EP of the three bundled up for this ‘album’ release, it’s a rasping Tom Waits fronting the raggamuffin era Dexys Midnight Runners running through the more frantic songs from Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. In fact, in comparison, he’s close to making Tom Waits sound like the latest Pop Idol contender waiting for their balls to drop. At other times we have a croaking blue collar balladeer in the style of a folky Ghost Of Tom Joad Springsteen. This is an album from an artist that sounds ravaged - physically and emotionally, and to concentrate on it can leave you wilting and feeling the same. Continue Reading

Blackbird Harmony is Texan Ethan Birdsong (great name). Anyone who has George Jones as a MySpace friend is going to be worth a listen, and with influences from Hank Williams to Joy Division is also likely to be viewing a battered world through a whisky glass - drained of liquid but full to the brim with sorrows. And so it is: don’t come looking for a pick-me-up here. Continue Reading