It’s amazing, but on occasion it is possible for a guitar to make a wiseass tolerable. It’s true (though obviously not everyone can be saved, some just get more amplified – see the insufferable Jack Black). Of course we’re making presumptions here, based on the evidence available. And the evidence available suggests a guy who’s witty rhyming couplets and like todally easy going attitude completely define him. Take away the guitar and you’ve probably got the type of bar-fly who latches onto every passing conversation, increasing the frequency of his lazy comedic asides the more he’s ignored, no matter which way you turn to avoid his gaze. With the guitar though he’s a pretty consistently endearing poet and an occasionally brilliant wit.
His dedication to the classic structures of country and blues keep him in fairly tight check where you feel he might meander. And his attraction to wry humour peppers the mix sufficiently that you might raise a smile to recognize an appealing characteristic instead of giving in to the regularity of it all. ‘Hard Hand To Hold’ is the type of songwriting gold he aims for throughout the album, with some mixed results. It’s a lilting, cruising Dylan-esque backwater supporting a nonchalantly delivered but sharply focused lyrical narrative, featuring some golden nuggets of consideration: “it’s a hard hand to hold that is looking for control, it is tempting to fight when you know that you’re right, it’s hard to lie down when you don’t trust the ground…”.
His name is often discussed in the same breath as Conor Oberst, who’s talked of as a mentor of his, but that’s misleading even if it’s true. He’s a much dimmer light than Bright Eyes, in both reach and outlook, not that he should be written off for that – there are, after all, few that currently come close to Mr Oberst. He’s more of a Brendan Benson, with a more visible sense of humour. ‘So Long’ adheres to that idea, as does ‘Fear No Pain’, with the brilliant ‘Oxygen’ taking in the harmonic wordplay of Moldy Peaches and Adam Green. He doesn’t so much veer off the beaten track at any point, rather stumbles off it while finding his footing. And this makes for a surprisingly rounded album, with much more life than you originally expected of it. We’ve even begun to think he might be a nice guy without the guitar.