Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Heirlooms of August

I have a couple of reviews running today at Blurt...how about this one from Red House Painters bassist Jerry Vessel.

Down at the 5-Spot
Heirlooms of August
Caldo Verde

BY JENNIFER KELLY

Down at the 5-Spot is laid-back and ruminative, full of countrified touches like pedal steel, harmonica and close, male-female harmonies, but defined, mostly, by personal confidences. Red House Painters’ bass player Jerry Vessel writes about his garden, his young nephew, the low-key pleasures of road-side dining, arranging casual observations into gemlike patterns.

This second Heirlooms of August album feels more like a solo record than 2011’s Forever Moon because it centers on Vessel’s whiskery voice, but also because it hovers on the border between art and personal confession. Even the love songs – “Annabelle” – seem to exist mostly in Vessel’s head, as he wonders about the smell, taste and maternal inclinations of a chance encounter. It’s a pretty song, but without momentum. You can’t imagine the singer making his move.

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There are no videos or soundcloud or anything for Down at the 5-Spot,but I do like the title track from the first album.

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