For anyone who still dreams of hopping in a jalopy and cruising the back roads of the American South, Jim White‘s Transnormal Skiperoo will make excellent road music. A bit too spooky and mysterious for mainstream taste, White’s music straddles a thin line between alt-country and neo folk, a dusty, mysterious universe with an idiosyncratic and skewed view of roots Americana that conjures elements of Tom Waits and David Lynch. Skiperoo begins as a pleasant joyride compared to previous efforts. “A Town Called Amen,” with steel guitar and banjo plucked atmospherics, is a mid-tempo opener for an album that drifts by at it’s own pace, taking detours into eight minute electric ballads on “Fruit of the Vine,” while also spotlighting swift, light-as-air attractions like the perfectly executed “Blindly We Go.” The pop elements shine on Skiperoo, and with “Amen” and “Blindly We Go” kicking off the album on such an upbeat and optimistic note, it is a shame that the B-side gets bogged down in melancholic dirge. The contrast makes for an uneven album, with the moodier pieces overstuffed with clunky metaphors and overly precious imagery. The tracks that do work are transcendent; “Blindly We Go” is strong enough to make Ryan Adams insanely jealous.
-Drew Fortune
Jim White: www.jimwhite.net
Luaka Bop: www.luakabop.com