320 kbps | 107 MB | UL |
Tasjan’s second solo album and New West Records debut brings to mind all of these scenes, sounds and characters without dwelling too heavily on any particular source. A spectacular guitarist whose career has spanned punk and glam, Los Angeles country-rock and East Nashville alt-country, Tasjan maintains his eclecticism in songwriting that’s equal parts dreamy and droll. “I sing jokes and call ’em songs; nobody knows where they belong,” he intones in the gentle-flowing “On Your Side.” The jangly “A Town Goes Dark” is even more modest: “Ain’t setting the place on fire, but sometimes I can feel the spark,” he sings before breaking into a chorus of “oohs” like a lost member of The Monkees. Like his peer Josh Tillman of Father John Misty fame (whose bassist, Eli Thomson, produced Silver Tears), Tasjan is fascinated with the way people chase dreams of romance and success that they later find deflated or even toxic. But Tasjan is more kind-hearted and a little wiser, with a gentler sense of humor. Novelty-ish songs like the last-call marathon “12 Bar Blues” show real insight into humanity behind the one-liners.