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Josh Rouse
(Slow River/ Ryko)
By his very nature, 28-year-old Nashville singer-songwriter Rouse isn't the sort of musician who demands your attention so much as politely requests it in song.
His voice is clear, with just a tinge of youthful, smoke-stained weariness. Tunes are layered and steady, woven from a stash of subtle sounds rather than beaten out in the bronze-string manner that normally marks the "Americana" drawer in which Rouse has been filed.
That said, Rouse has such a way with melody that once he snuck up on critics with his 1998 debut Dressed Up Like Nebreska -- a heart-melting, string-swept collection that drew as much from the sincere, jangly pop of '80s Brit bands such as The Smiths as it did from America's dusty troubadour tradition -- he hop-scotched the usual "one-to-watch-status" and went straight to acclaim.
Perhaps because of the strength and maturity of that first outing, Home is a bit of an anti-climax. More likely, the disc contains several tunes that are stunning enough to render the rest of it pale in comparison.
Opening track Laughter pits droning guitar and bittersweet cellos against a cracking backbeat, before climaxing with a horn section that feels like the first welcome chuckle after a sad afternoon. Directions, In Between and Afraid To Fail dip and soar with warm slide guitar, touches of vibraphone and cello-driven choruses. The closer, Little Know It All, offers a kind of Salvation Army Band soul with its weepy trombone and muted trumpet.
These moments will certainly call for repeat listens, though the skip button on the CD player is also bound to come in handy to navigate around the filler.
Recommended for fans of Latter-day Replacements, Bob Mould's Workbook , Lambchop and Wilco.
Josh Rouse performs at the Horseshoe tonight.
Track Listing
1.Laughter
02.Marvin Gaye
03.Directions
04.Parts And Accessories
05.100M Backstroke
06.Hey Porcupine
07.In Between
08.And Around
09.Afraid To Fail
10.Little Know It All