|
Angels in
Disguise (2006)
(Warner Korova)
U.K.
Release Date: 28 August 2006
U.S.
Release Date: 31 August 2006
Under-rated working-class singer-songwriter serves up a
classic collection of characterisations.
The
grandson of Irish
railroad workers, Cleveland-born Jeff Finlin set out to hitchhike
around the USA. He ended up playing with bands in such
diverse places
as Boston, Ohio and Los Angeles.
|
|
Finally, he wound up in Nashville and
in 1993 formed the Thieves (a band, not an American version of Fagin's
gang). Given his
nomadic
lifestyle, it is little wonder that his music is as diverse, widespread
and difficult to pin down as the country he set out to travel.
With his blue-collar
heritage, it should also come as no surprise that his music is gritty
and spare. This no-frills approach suits a voice that carries a
warning label in every note and syllable. But what may come as a
pleasand 'sting' is just how much Jeff Finlin stretches and prods what
is essentially the album of an Americana singer-songwriter.
Postcard From Topeka is positively experimental, incorporating all
sorts of weird and wonderful sounds. However, Finlin makes
them work beautifully and they provide a haunting, if slightly strange,
melodic backdrop.
Finlin is proudly working class, with his music dealing with the more
'basic' side of life. The Long Lonesome Death of The Traveling
Man is not just an incredibly long tile, it's also a window into
Finlin's real world and, in what can only be described as a laconic
drawl, he teases every ounce of emotion and feeling out of the song.
Jeff Finlin will no doubt find himself compared to a long and
illustrious list of writers who act as the chroniclers of American
life. Few, however, will do it as clearly, succinctly and with
their feet as firmly on the grounds as Jeff Finlin. ****
|
MM
Maverick Magazine
October
2006 |
 |
| Sometimes
an artist who's been toiling in the margins to apparently little effect
manages to hoist themselves to the next level, simply by continuing
their creative streak. For a prime example, see the heartwarming
tale
of Jeff Finlin.
The
Cleveland-born song craftsman (now settled in Colorado) has built a
substantial body of work with albums such as Original Fin and Somewhere
South Of Wonder, heretofore without great tangible reward. Now he
is
reaping overdue response to some of the most grown-up
singer-songwriting on the modern map, and we learn that he even numbers
Bruce Springsteen among his fans.
If the
freewheeling tales on Angels In Disguise, such as American Dream #109
and Postcard From Topeka, are paying the cost to impress The Boss, it's
a sound investment. Finlin's sharp prose and narratives shows that he's
studied the masters - not just Dylan but probably further back to
Guthrie - while some memorable melodic structures paint a vivid
portrait of the American outdoors.
|
HMV
Choice
August
2006 |
 |
After
Cameron Crowe included a track - Sugar Blue - from his 2002
last album on the Elizabethtown soundtrack, Jeff Finlin now
gets a major label release for what’s effectively a repackaged version
of his 2004 album Epinonymous, with which Angels In Disguise
has eight tracks in common.
Recorded in
Nashville, the songs hover uncertainly between country and pop-rock,
though many of the lyrics give the material a darker edge. Although
promotion is angled towards the most accessible tracks like the poppy
little single American Dream #109 or the bouncy Moon Man,
Finlin is better when he’s freed from the constraints of
radio-friendliness.
There’s a
reason Bruce Springsteen’s a fan - and the secret lies in the darker
chronicles of life on the road hidden in tracks like Break You Down
and the hard-hitting but catchy Postcard From Topeka. Finlin’s
lived the Kerouac-inspired life of the rover all right, motorcycling
round Colorado with Hunter S. Thompson, riding tailcars and working in
a travelling circus where his job was to “feed the elephants and keep
the clowns in tequila”. No wonder this Ohio troubadour’s head is
stuffed with all the usual images of timeless Americana.
Finlin plays
some gorgeously atmospheric piano on the Dylanesque poem The Long
Lonesome Death of the Travelling Man and there’s some great slide
guitar throughout the album from Pat Buchanan. Finlin’s voice will
inevitably be compared to Mark Lanegan, but it doesn’t have his
whiskery richness - it’s a bonier, more mannered instrument which
sometimes recalls Tom Waits or even Mick Jagger in Gram Parsons country
mode.
Standout
track? Maybe the southern-inflected, clarinet-covered closer Nothing’s
Enough - the perfect evocation of middle-aged bewilderment in the
face of late-flowering love or sudden success. Too old to try/Too
tired to care/And my ship came in/In the silence there.
|
Clare
O'Brien
Subba-Cultcha
20 August
2006 |
 |
Retitled reissue from
itinerant US storyteller, plus bonus tracks. Finlin's management and
record company claim Angel in Disguise is a 'new' album.
Actually, it's 2005's Epinonymous under a new title and on a new label.
Originally self-released and sold online, its wider availability is
welcome, but the dishonesty is reprehensible. Still, it's
easy to hear why a major has finally picked it up, for Angel in
Disguise finds Finlin filling out his singer-songwriter tropes with
touches of lo-fi-electronica. These amplify his abundant
storytelling gifts, heard to best effect on 'Forever Evergreen', a
compelling take on Native American history. ****
|
Nigel Williamson
Uncut
August 2006 |
 |
|
|
