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American
Handcrafted
Sound.
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MUSIC
Simpson and Cobb recreate past
sounds to such eerie effect that it’s
hard to not be constantly reminded of
the original artists. Simpson is a low,
earnest vocalist—a neo Waylon Jennings.
The clucking Telecaster in “Life
of Sin” recalls the guitar work of the
legendary James Burton. On “Living
the Dream,” the sonics echo outlaw
moments such as Waylon and Hank
Jr.’s “The Conversation.”
On one hand, it takes genuine
skill for an artist to so closely mimic
classic country moments. But the
downside is that Simpson spends so
much time duplicating such sounds
and styles, his own individuality recedes
into the shadows. His forays
into psychedelia arrive as odd and
awkward experiments. “Turtles All
the Way Down” combines a familiar
Bakersfield Sound with a brittle, hallucinogenic
interlude that sticks out like
a sore thumb. The long jam “It Ain’t
All Flowers” devolves into a Beatlesesque
“Revolution 9” outtake.
Instead, Simpson is at his best
when he stops overthinking, gets out
of his own way, and speaks directly
from the heart. A pensive cover of
When In Rome’s “The Promise” includes
a shouted entreaty so genuine
it hurts. The singer likely sounds his
most authentic here because he isn’t
trying to duplicate the original version.
Simpson could also take a lesson
from Hank Williams Jr., who spent his
early years as a mini-doppelganger
of his father before breaking free and
finding his own voice. When Simpson
loosens his ironclad grip on the past
and relaxes into his own contemporary
vision, he’ll earn the buzz that
surrounds him. —Chrissie Dickinson
July 2014 55