Left of the Dial |
Limbeck: Let Me Come Homeby Matt Barber |
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There’s nothing wrong with consistency in music. Sometimes more of the same is a very good thing. But a signature sound can become monotonous, and that’s the problem plaguing Limbeck’s Let Me Come Home. It’s an album full of standard issue alt-country, not bad just bland. Anybody that remembers the band Convoy—which basically became Louis XIV when three of its members decided another musical avenue was more lucrative—knows what to expect from Limbeck. It would seem they took all the right steps to grab part of the No Depression demographic. They employ a wide array of classic Americana instrumentation, including accordion, harmonica, Rhodes, and mandolin. They got the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris to co-produce the record with Ed Ackerson. The packaging even looks nice. Unfortunately, the songs just don’t hold up when compared to other bands doing similar things, like The Sadies, Old 97s, or Centro-Matic. The lyrical messages are less than profound, summed up in observations like, “People Don’t Change,” from the song of the same name, and “TV is a waste of your time/ It’s only good for wrecking your mind” (“Television”). “Names For Dogs” strips things down to just acoustic guitars and a few voices and “Watchin’ The Moon Rise Over Town” works in some Faces-style barroom rock influence, but that doesn’t prevent the record from ultimately blending together in forgettable fashion.
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Issue Navigation> Issue Index > v4n47: W: The Incredible Shrinking Man (11/23/05) > Left of the Dial > Limbeck: Let Me Come Home This Week's Issue • Artvoice Daily • Artvoice TV • Events Calendar • Classifieds |
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