Kelley Stoltz
Friday
Reviewed by Dan Oko, Fri., March 14, 2008
Kelley Stoltz
Circular Sounds (Sub Pop)Like labelmate Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Kelley Stoltz grows substantial facial hair and has a way with words: "When there was fruit on the vine, tequila and lime, it was always fine," he sings on "Put My Troubles to Sleep." Yet where Beam has beefed up his bedroom dithering, Stoltz appears content to fiddle about without much concern for the world outside. "When You Forget" follows "Put My Trouble ..." with a melody that sounds lifted from Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk." To its credit, Circular Sounds feels as though Stoltz would take this concern as a compliment. After all, the San Francisco-based artist arrived on the national front in 2004 wearing his influences on his sleeve: the keyboard-driven sounds of McCartney, Nick Lowe, and a range of 1960s legends. It's very catchy, but the center doesn't hold. (Friday, March 14, Spiros, 8pm; Friday, March 14, Bourbon Rocks, 11pm.)
