Dakota Suite
Signal Hill
Badman
Smooth acoustic-electric folk-rock grooves slide out in waves like a quiet dream. Chris Hooson sings quiet and sad, placing him alongside other singers of sad songs, like Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters), Michael Sheehy (Dream City Film Club), and Mark Eitzel (American Music Club). Maybe Chris should be in some three word named band, (Dakota Suite Club?) singing songs about Leeds, London, and the rain. The songs are based in the guitar, drums, bass, and vocal structure, but the addition of cellos, violin, and trumpet brings the songs further out and higher into melancholy movement. Song titles like “Close Enough to Tears,” “Raining Somewhere,” and “When Skies Are Grey” give you a feel for the prevailing mood, but it’s not down in a bad way. Today it is Sunday, it is raining, and there’s really nothing I’d rather listen to than this CD.
Badman, 1388 Haight St., No. 211, San Francisco, CA 94117, http://www.badmanrecordingco.com
