Don't Be A Stranger

Melancholic songs, downer melodic indie balladry. SF stalwart, former frontman of “proto-slowcore” band American Music Club (are they still a thing?). Hard to bring up Eitzel without mention of his (follower and) contemporary, Mark Kozelek, and I do want to compare this record to the 2012, “off-the-cuff” Sun Kil Moon record in that it takes a striking lyrical approach, for better or worse-- really uncomfortable stuff about fans signing his posters but also quite tragic in places. Makes me think a bit of Spain (the band), Jon Derosa, Henry Rollins’ spoken word stuff, and maybe if Tindersticks was less a band and more a Stuart Staples solo project. FCC on 5.

*1. Bobby, pleasant anthem with a tinge of melancholy. (4:36)
2. Radiohead Faust Arp. (3:12)
*3. Dreamy, airy gauze for your ears. Pleasant harmonies. (5:08)
*4. Striking, sad lyrics that cut deep; kind of upbeat strangely. (4:04)
5. One FCC, stripped down slow, dreamy sounds/tambourine. (2:31)
6. Smooth, consonant piano, self-doubting, mid-tempo, pleasant tune. (3:20)
7. Slow, lush, a little bit sappy. (4:57)
8. Waltz, big vocal performance. Skip. (3:37)
9. Simple piano, solemn. (4:20)
10. Another slow downer piano-dabbed acoustic lush tune w/o drums. (4:48)
11. Long, sustained vocal notes, acoustic guitar, sparse. (3:12)