Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 | 6:08 p.m.
Craig Finn, Clear Heart Full Eyes
With help from a team of Austin, Texas, musicians, Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn speak-sings his way through country-flecked tunes with classic-rock signifiers—from the easygoing, Eagles-like “Terrified Eyes” to Apollo Baby,” which boasts stormy, Neil Young-y guitar solos. Because it lacks the sloppy bar-band grandstanding and indelible hooks of Finn’s main band, however, Clear Hearts Full Eyes is a plodding endeavor; moreover, Finn’s character sketches and musings on his relationship with religion give only the illusion of depth.
John K. Samson, Provincial
The full-length solo debut from the frontman of literate Canadian folk-punk troupe The Weakerthans is, unsurprisingly, erudite. The hard-charging rocker “When I Write My Master’s Thesis,” for example, conflates a grad-school triumph with romantic liberation. The rest of Provincial alternates between hushed acoustic numbers and rollicking electric indie-rock, although both are driven by Samson’s flat, nasal vocal delivery. Like John Darnielle of sonic peers The Mountain Goats, Samson makes his vocal limitations work—and the album’s cutting introspection and simple music combine for a riveting listen.
Fionn Regan, 100 Acres of Sycramore
On his third full-length, underrated Irish bard Fionn Regan goes sparse: Only an acoustic guitar, the occasional swell of strings and a sprinkle of percussion adorn 100 Acres of Sycamore’s lovely, midtempo songs. That spare instrumentation is a double-edged sword. Although Regan’s amber tenor voice shines in the spotlight—especially on the indie-folk strum “For a Nightingale” and the lullaby “1st Day of May”—the monotonous tempos and lack of instrumental variation ultimately render Sycamore nothing but pleasant background noise.
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