Fo’ shizzle it’s not my nizzle
Pros
Dressed-down acoustic folky pop, nice vocals, indie sensibility
Cons
A bit on the dull side
The Bottom Line
Check out the video online, pass on buying the CD
First things first: ‘Half These Songs Are About You’ is the debut album of Nizlopi, the British duo of Luke Concannon and John Parker, who use acoustic guitar, double bass and beat-box for their own style of folky pop. Nizlopi is currently being hailed across the pond as a “breath of fresh air” in the biz. This album contains 11 tracks, including the two singles, ‘Girls’ and ‘JCB Song.’
I found Nizlopi quite by accident. A blogger whose work I’ve read for years (since before we called them bloggers) included a link on her site to the sweet and adorable animated wonder that is the http://www.jcbsong.co.uk, as well as a (brief) rave for the rest of the CD. And since I’ve always agreed with her music taste in the past (Pearl Jam, Aimee Mann, Counting Crows), and since I had just watched the video 10 or 20 times in a row, I priced the CD on Amazon, but then took the jump of just buying it from Nizlopi’s own site. Whatever I expected (more JCB, perhaps?) I was rather disappointed. I’ve meant to do a review for months, but the album was stuffed away on a shelf and I never wanted to get it out again.
What’s good: The JCB song, of course! The Everyman quality of Nizlopi shines most brightly in this dreamy childhood reminiscence, although it is present elsewhere. Lead singer Luke’s voice–and pronounced accent–are charming and consistent throughout the album, and the arrangements are safe and understated. The cover art confirms the impression that these are two normal blokes who happen to express themselves well in music. At times they remind one of a more upbeat Damien Rice. Or maybe the love child of Tracy Chapman and David Gray. Or perhaps the best comparison is early Barenaked Ladies, with the acoustic guitar/double bass sound, only without BNL’s constant attempts at clever lyrics; i.e., “She’s like a sonnet/She’s so on it” Concannon sings on ‘Freedom.’ Invoking Shakespeare’s favorite form does not Shakespeare make, lads.
Bonus: You get the JCB video when you play the CD on a PC.
What’s not: As mentioned above, the whole CD is very consistent and safe. It’s almost too much sweetness and light. If you have any touch of the cynic in you at all, you find yourself wishing they would have let an emo kid or Ozzy Osbourne or old-nose Ashlee Simpson write a lyric or two, just to shake things up a bit. With the exception of ‘JCB,’ most of the songs are not “hooky,” to the point where they’re not particularly memorable (or distinguishable from one another) either.
Nizlopi are at their best with gentle ballads like ‘JCB’ and ‘Girls.” (The fact that these are the album’s two singles would suggest that I’m not alone in that opinion.) Indeed, the handful of uptempo efforts range from dull (‘Call It Up’) to cringe-inducing (‘Love Rage on’ [sic])–it’s sort of like having your kid brother try to go all P-funk on his Casio keyboard at a family party.
All the same, I can’t help but root for these lads. According to the liner notes, Concannon’s parents financed the production of the CD, so that explains why there’s not the overproduced, homogenized sound we’ve come to expect from major labels. And maybe also why ‘JCB’ is an ode to Concannon’s dad’s awesomeness–he’s Bruce Lee, after all.
If you’re feeling down, and want to cheer up with some acoustic strummy indie tunes, British style, perhaps you might want to take a listen. (You can even buy my copy on Half.com!) But if you want fully-deconstructed indie with teeth (melancholy American teeth at that), please join me in electing Sufjan Stevens Secretary of States instead.
Recommended:
No
