TW Walsh
Pollensongs
My Pal God
This EP, five tracks, is a gut wrenching exercise in introspection and naval gazing. There’s something curiously northeastern about this music. The instrumentation, the arrangements, the plaintive vocals, and the melodies that move at a glacial pace, this could never be mistaken for a southern band. What is it about the northeast that lends itself to music such as this?
For his part, Walsh has got the emotional vertigo nailed dead to rights. Images of young men, well-read and well-educated, driving their Honda Civics or VW Passats down lonely two-lane roads with the mottled shadows cast by the sun through the overgrowth overhead, listening to this album as they white-knuckle the steering wheel. Not unlike Low or Codeine, the cadence and melodies eschew easy listening, and one must pay attention to catch the subtleties and nuances that Walsh tosses into the mix. On “Prisoner Of War,” it’s the synthesizer bubbling along at the introduction, while on “The Year That Got Away,” there’s the way he pulls the chords (or is that the synthesizer again?) towards the end of the song. The fourth track, and one of my favorites, “Stories About the Truth,” sounds a bit like old Dinosaur Jr. (at a quieter moment), with Walsh’s falsetto and gift for melody.
This is a worthwhile purchase for fans of Low, Idaho, or even an artist like Neil Young. Capable of crunching guitar work or gentle strumming, Walsh works from his strengths and has created an evocative EP. Be sure to check out the lyrics at http://www.twwalsh.com.
My Pal God Records: http://www.mypalgodrecords.com
