Good, if you're into that kind of thing.
Eisenbraun | 01/03/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"A little rough around the edges, but a good CD nonetheless. It was catchy and well-produced. Nothing much else to say. I like Buckner's "Dents & Shells" more."
A 4.5, really...but comparing to "Dents & Shells"...?
J. Smith-Bowles | 01/22/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yes, a bit rough around the edges. Fine. And your point is...? When is anything that's got Jon Langford in it not a bit rough around the edges? There's quite a bit of charm in crystals that gets lost in cabochons (and vice-versa). I congratulate the one reviewer for having the courage to buy this CD and write a review and give it a decent rating. What I do not understand is how anyone (other than Richard Buckner in one of his moods) could consider "Dents & Shells" to be the best representation of Buckner. Richard Buckner continues to change and evolve and I love his first album the best and his most recent album, Meadow, is the favorite of his more recent offerings. Why? Because he is able to morph from a wounded troubadour to a rock 'n roll stud and it all sounds great and heartfelt. THAT is an accomplishment. "Dents & Shells" has its sweet and intense moments and it's a CD I won't part with any time soon. But it is not, I beg to differ, the album that should be held up as The Standard. If you love the sound of Buckner and the steel guitar, check out "Bloomed".
This CD (SDI vs TF) is in a class all its own. I would not attempt to compare it to Langford's "All the Fame of Lofty Deeds". That is an album I love and highly recommend as one of the saddest, funniest and most brutally honest albums ever to spend months in my car player, but there are other things Langford has done (and gotten away with) that, depending on the mood I'm in, seem better. He's been in the game a helluva long time. Buckner's not been around quite as long, but he certainly cannot be judged as an artist on the basis of "Dents & Shells" and neither can this album.
This one is strange in a very special way, as when you mix chemicals that really ought not work together or even blend and yet somehow they do. And the only expectation I had was one that was met: this is edgy stuff and not easy listening.
"Dents & Shells" is RB processing through yet another aftermath of yet another failed relationship and there is moderation in the album where he doesn't really swing as far into the dark or the light as he often has and still does (and hopefully, will continue doing. Sometimes the comparison to Nick Drake is more troubling than it is a compliment). SDI vs TF is a whole load of people processing whatever is going on in their lives at the time while attempting to communicate information I'm still working to process. And any album that can draw me back again and again to listen and ponder is worth every penny and every moment of my attention. What is comparable about Langford and Buckner is that they've both got Those Voices that cannot be mistaken for anyone else's and they incite people who love to sing to listen very closely, not only to the lyrics (which are intelligent, as expected) but to the pauses and the places where each voice soars like a rocket or seems ready to fracture, but never quite does. I'm giving this the "high 5" so it receives the 4.5 that is, I believe, a fair and accurate rating."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1