ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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Micah P. Hinson
…AND THE PIONEER SABOTEURS FULL TIME HOBBY 26.7.10 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk
I’ve seen this guy’s name around a few times and always meant to check him out – but never got around to it, so I guess this my chance. Although it sounds like he has a band with him he is actually a solo artist. The conventional sounding ‘…and the’ part is actually the album title. He’s used this trick on a few of his other previous albums such as ‘and the Red Empire Orchestra’ or ‘and the Gospel of Progress’. It seems he just gathers around any creative, like minded friends that are available each time he puts together an album. The album opens with a mournful string drenched instrumental, and then on the simple acoustic strum of ‘Take Off That Dress For Me’ we’re introduced to Hinson’s vocals. On this track they sound not unlike Richard Hawley’s deep, resonant tones. But this was somewhat misleading as the on the rest of the album his vocal style is much more cracked and vulnerable than Hawley’s smooth, velvety croon. For the remainder of the album he upholds the tradition of other seminal miserable buggers such as Mark Kozelek of The Red House Painters by dolefully murmuring his way through the songs. His bleak lyrical themes are those of desolation, alcohol/drug abuse, and potential suicide – so not exactly a laugh a minute. On ‘Seven Horses Seen’ he paints a harrowing picture of childhood with lyrics describing a callous, abusive and philandering father. The album’s grand centrepiece is the delicate and austere ‘The Cross That Stole My Heart Away’. The sombre mood continues throughout the rest of the album, the penultimate track ‘She’s Building Castles in Her Heart’ being as uplifting as it gets. You know sometimes at the end of gigs when the guitar player leaves his instrument leaning face up against the amps as he leaves the stage? And the audience is left with a seemingly perpetual squall of feedback as the crescendo of the performance even though the stage is empty? Well that’s the first eight minutes of last track ‘The Returning’ although the white noise then gives way to a beautiful string coda bringing us full circle from the introduction. This is certainly a demanding and challenging listen – so N-dubz fans need not apply. If you can get past the solemnity of the subject matter and give this album time and space; then you will be rewarded with something which reveals itself as a masterful piece of work. www.micahphinson.com |
