AR: 1

Simple Kid - 1 (2004)

This is the debut album from Simple Kid, a British folk-kitchen-sink rocker who to my mind is summed up by the phrase "Beck Lite," and I don't mean a beer. I picked up this album on the cheap from Newbury Comics in '04 from the "Hot New Artists" rack; I had heard about the classic-rock-rooted singer songwriter who evoked comparisons to his Hansen-ness as well as Dylan. SK is certainly talented and has a knack for catchy melodies, and his DIY attitude is admirable: he records all of his own music / vocals / instruments on an eight track and then transfers things to computers where he mixes and modifies songs to finished products. And that computer apparently has a whole bunch of filters and modulators, because all kinds of crazy blips and flanges and doubled-vocals and drum loops litter this album. Still, despite all the inventiveness, something has always struck me as quite contrived about it, and this severe solo work has a sterile, plasticine feel to it. I don't want to go too far with this sentiment - at least part of it may be my bias against his voice, which is serviceable though unrefined and unfortunately just grates on me a little. But there is something in his Wonder-esque funk, his matter-of-fact cool blues riffs, that just don't come off as entirely authentic. It's a little mysterious - this continually strikes me as stuff I should like, but the true grit just isn't there.

There are a few highlights: "Staring at the Sun" is an acoustic driver that employs a falsetto lead vocal and a shwanky riff and chorus. It's his most Beck-ish moment without sounding like a facsimile. (Even, that song, has a rather unfortunate bridge throws in that almost dooms it). "The Commuter" also uses this falsetto and tells a story of an everyman doomed to life on the desk job circuit. It features a killer chorus and the slacker despair that rings throughout, over buzzing acoustics, is perfect. It's also got a syrupy line that goes "I said to my boss, 'Go fuck yourself' " that amazingly comes off as affirming rather than frustrated. Seriously. "Supertramps & Superstars" is a nice lo-fi vaudeville-ish number that sounds ripped from the Beatles. And "Kids Don't Care"'s slack-jawed chorus will certainly get mired in your head.

But that's about it - not to say the rest of the album is bad, it's just decidedly medium. The gist is that this solo offering is fairly derivative of a lot of styles / artists, and the originals are uniformly better. So check them out - this album is promising enough to make me willing to check out more stuff from SK, but if it sounds interesting, you're better off digging around Mellow Gold.

Status: Not Recommended
Nyet's Fave: "The Commuter"