What William Harries Graham, Chronicle contributor and the Painted Redstarts’ leader, shares in common with father Jon Dee Graham is being an Austin singer-songwriter-guitarist of protean talent. The sonic resemblance mostly ends there. Debut LP Foreign Fields demonstrates a Nineties dream-pop influence mixed with more urgent rock & roll across ethereal soundscapes including “Curtains Wide,” “Say Goodbye,” and the title track. It’s as if sound poet Brion Gysin had diced up a My Bloody Valentine record and one by Neil Young & Crazy Horse, then almost randomly reassembled the pieces. An old pal of his father’s, Alejandro Escovedo, drops in to kickstart a remake of True Believers’ nugget “She’s Got,” and suddenly the album becomes a roadhouse raunch. An effects-laden shimmer returns immediately thereafter on “London,” perfectly soundtracking a world-weariness beyond William Harries Graham’s years.
This article appears in Attack of the 50-Foot Uterus!.
