Shelby Bryant
Cloud-Wow Music
Smells Like
Almost childlike acoustic pop, with some ties to neil (the hippie from The Young Ones) or the lighter side of Spinal Tap. Mostly originals, with a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Wedding.” Sometimes the keyboards kick in with a background new wave shimmy, but the slight Momus-like drawl of Shelby’s voice, his timing, and delivery, keeps the songs floating on the edge of a storybook written for kids by some Hobbit-loving hippie. It’s not bad, it’s sometimes a little frightening, sometimes cute• and usually demented.
Smells Like Records, PO Box 6179, Hoboken, NJ 07030; http://www.smellslikerecords.com