|
|
|
The Gunshy is a serious-minded, embearded young singer-songwriter fellow named Matt Arbogast. The first and most obvious thing to remark on is his vocals, which sit squarely at the halfway point between the gravel of Tom Waits and the rasp of Eric Bachmann (Crooked Fingers). I'm not sure if this relatively young guy is singing like a grizzled old man because it's his natural voice or because it's an affectation, but there's a lot of conviction when he bellows out a line like "I'm f***ing up my life for rock and roll!" The album alternates between electric rockers and quieter acoustic numbers, recorded with an empty-room ambience. The songwriting mines the same gritty, dark-yet-hopeful vein as his vocal forebears; it seems unaffected and the lyrics are very direct, so even though the stylized vocals give me some uncertainty, I think this is some pretty honest expression going on here. This is a good quality release if you're into this sort of thing. (mike.03.05)
rating
related links