Delicious

Chronique

This is Duane Jarvis' fourth album as a frontman (not counting the live Combo Platter) and his second for the well-regarded Slewfoot imprint, a label that specializes in borderline uncategorizable roots rock singer/songwriters. That's a non-description that fits Jarvis' music pretty well. His sound is strictly old-school, his tempos generally languid to sludgy, his voice gritty and laconic. The songs tend to be wry, but not bitter; on numbers like "Prodigal Daughter" and "Come Back Again" he sings about forgiveness -- though, granted, forgiveness of two very different kinds. On "Can't Build a Better Love" and the title track he sings about the kind of love that grows over time as the result of long-term fidelity and devotion. But it's not all comfortable domestic satisfaction on this album: the Tex-Mex-flavored "I Miss You Already" is pure romantic regret, and in the ironic "Happy Town" he finds the symbol of a schizophrenic city in a jukebox that alternates between the Rolling Stones and the Count Five. A few of his moves seem a bit mannered and obvious, like the roadhouse piano and resonator guitar on "Come Back Again" and the shuffling, enervated tempo on "Lower Than Lonely." But take the album together as a whole and you'll likely find it very satisfying. Recommended.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo