SPENCER DOBBS - CHANGED FOOL
sloow 2016, edition of 70
"A couple years ago I received a demo in the mail which frankly blew me away the minute I hit play. Some of the best late night listening I’ve heard recently. Spencer is from Texas and his music has the same loner vibes as Charalambides and the early blues legends." - SLOOW
a stunning collection of late night loner ballads informed by LEONARD COHEN, JERRY JEFF WALKER, TOM WAITS, NEIL YOUNG's ditch trilogy, SPRINGSTEEN's NEBRASKA, maybe some JONATHAN RICHMAN, finding hushed intimated contemporary comparison to SONGS: OHIA's DIDN'T IT RAIN and CONSTANTINES frontman BRY WEBB's solo albums, almost has the same slacker vibe as ex SIC ALPS frontman MIKE DONOVAN's solo debut WOT except the bad day blues are much more severe for DOBBS, maybe like down and out WOODEN WAND (thinkin BORN BAD) minus all the wry humor and off kilter wit, as some of the songwriting here gives TOTH a good run for his hard earned hard luck money -- the instrumentation is simple and incredibly sparse yet powerful, almost funereal - just a handful of guitar strums and piano chords with minimal overdubs, at times i could be convinced that this was some improbable IGGY POP reel of strung out bedroom ramblings, just him and a piano shambling through variations on "we will fall" with a touch of flute or sax or somesuch added for gravitas
as the tape inexorably rolls along it seems to unravel more and more along the lines of the most damaged and desolate stuff from CHRISTINA CARTER and CHARALAMBIDES -as SLOOW's brief blurb suggests- channeling early 80s JANDEK sides - ok it doesn't unravel -that- far, but i think that's a fair reference point for plotting it's trajectory, finishing with an unexpected reeled in nine minute opus with a STEVEN R SMITH at sunrise vibe, though the lyrics temper the relatively optimistic sound - "you don't know what love is until you know the route from hell" - that's potent stuff - this tape is loaded, i figured i would dig it but, man, i didn't expect to get utterly destroyed by it
highest possible recommendation
http://sloowtapes.blogspot.com/2016/05/spencer-dobbs.html
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LIMITED EDITION CASSETTES
