Search - Justin Vollmar :: 13 or So People Who Need Chances

Vollmar is from Bloomington by way of West Virginia. He?s made an album of obvious songs (recorded at home) with obvious sounds (recorded elsewhere). At the same time less and more than his first record, "13 Or So People In Need Of Chances" is an exercise in traditional folk-song storytelling with contemporary structural elements. Sounds narrate the songs and direct the listener into new settings while allowing Vollmar to create pieces that are both surreal and expressionistic. Musically, he sounds simultaneously old (Donovan or Townes Van Zandt) and new (Warn Defever or The Microphones). Structurally, the record has more in common with the experimental films of Stan Brakhage or Hollis Frampton than with any particular musical artist of our time. And like J.D. Salinger?s 9 Stories, each of the songs is about separate people who collectively make a family of sorts; 12 songs exploring 13 or so characters? weaknesses, vulnerabilities and sensitivities in search of! some glimmer of light.