Spectrals: Sob Story (Slumberland) album review

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Issue #46 - June/July 2013 - Charli XCXSpectrals

Sob Story

Slumberland

Jul 11, 2013 Spectrals By Austin Trunick

Louis Jones sounds like a songwriter lost in time, but it’d be tough figuring out which date to punch into the flux capacitor if you wanted to send him back home. His warm licks put roots down in vintage rockabilly and country, but it’s the sad sack, heart-on-his-sleeve love songs that make his music feel so old-fashioned. Perhaps it’s better to look toward Jones’ pub rocker influences—Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, and Elvis Costello—who were picking clean the bones of rock’s patriarchs in the decades before Jones was born. He’s got that vibe down, no argument there, but he’s missing the gummy hooks that made those guys’ songs such essential jukebox selections; these tracks lack that vital stickiness that’ll make you sing along and hum them afterwards. Contrary to its name, Sob Story is a good time, but the party clears out as soon as the record stops spinning. (www.spectrals.co.uk)

Author rating: 4.5/10

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