Jack Wilson

There appear to be many sides to Jack Wilson. The album art features a scruffy one on the front and a cleaned-up version on the back. The music on the onetime Seattle resident and current Austinite’s debut is just as multifaceted. While that makes Wilson difficult to pigeonhole, it’s also a problem when some of the songs, no matter the genre, are less than compelling. Using the Band and Neil Young as templates remains admirable if you’re working in what’s now known as Americana, but Wilson’s voice can’t reach the emotional peaks in his sights. There’s a progressive rock side on the suitelike “The Cure” and the lengthy “Black Hills Fiction” that’s interesting but never compelling. “Paying for Misery (Thanks to You),” a country rocker in the Gram Parsons vein, is the disc’s most plaintive and sincere.

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This article appears in June 29 • 2012.

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