Some Saturday reviews for y'all:
Jim Stärk - No Time Wasted (Supermono)
First off, Jim Stärk is named after James Dean's character in "Rebel Without a Cause" and not actually the name of anyone in the band. They make the kind of melancholic music you'd expect to hear on a jukebox in a sad, empty bar. Minor chords, lyrics of longing and loss, plenty of autumnal atmosphere, fingerpicked guitar lines and vocals that aspire towards Nick Drake and come damn close to success. The thing that impresses me the most about these guys is how relaxed and natural they sound playing together. I could actually do without the vocals completely and just listen to 'em play. Every player does a fantastic job of knowing when to shine and when to show restraint. There's a wonderful live vibe to the recording, too. It's a rare treat these days to hear an album that truly comes across as simply four guys playing in a room together. I hear very few obvious overdubs. On a less positive note, the lyrics are fairly mundane and predictable and the few songs that attempt to be a bit bluesier don't work well at all. The title track is great example - they sound stilted and ill-suited to the material. There's also a couple songs that have too much of an easy-listening vibe for my tastes, but it's not awful by any means. I just prefer the starker material. No pun intended. Really.