In the World of Him

Sally Timms set out here to make an album of songs not just by men songwriters (as are the vast majority of songs) but songs specifically about what it’s like to be a man, various kinds of men – soldiers, barflies, Bible/Koran thumpers, what have you. Hence the album title. That the sentiments are expressed by a female voice hardly jars. Timms’ voice and delivery are so personal, so direct, so in-your-face, that you’re captivated from the first syllable of any song here. Musically, the album sticks to a light folk/country feel and mid-tempo to slow songs but all the time, a sense of dread and abnormalcy permeate, likely due to the ministrations of producer Johnny Dowd and his band, who infuse country and even alt-country with a goth sensibility. I endorse and encourage the playing of every song on this album on KZSU. (Oh, and the cover photos are an homage to Larry Sultan’s iconic images of the San Fernando Valley porn industry.)

1. Odd tune – mechanical rhythms (the march) paired with lyrics and tender singing about the need for “love” (the sentimental)
2. Timms sings a sparse take on one of the Mekons’ very anti-war songs, a song that doubles, once again, as a sentimental love song
3. A song by Mark Eitzel about the chasm between the professed words and the practiced acts of religious fundamentalists who understand nothing of the meaning of “love”
4. An entrancing little waltz; “We’re living in a world that has no need for lovers, take hold of your heart and rip it out by the roots”
5. A strange little tune lumping war, patriotism, dress-up, Jesus, and sexual excitement; maybe not so strange after all
6. Gorgeous, with the bonus of accordion by Ted Reichman
7. An old, rare Mekons song, here played in choppy snippets as Timms’ silky vocals slithering through lyrics such as “Forgive them, they’re young and rich and white”; the guitar bits sounding as if they were miniature explosions is a sublime effect
8. The most mainstream track here, a song by Brit songwriter Kevin Coyne; but wait, what’s all that clanking percussion doing in this country weeper? And hey, the lyrics, which are an apology are so rambling, unfocused, and real
9. The lone Timms composition (outside the Mekons tunes) and it’s AMAZING; chills up the spine, tears in the eye; a droning elegy to wrench the remaining emotion from your soul