By RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * * )
A semi-legendary figure of Chicago's "post-rock" scene, David Grubbs is swinging through the country with this latest solo album in tow.
On first impression, given his experimental credentials, it's a surprisingly approachable, guitar-fired, meek-voiced singer-songwriter affair. Though it's not long before the off-kilter touches — angular melodies, unconventional time signatures, unusual chord progressions, scatterbrained lyrics and occasional extraneous noises — start taking the 10 tracks on a series of left-turns, the biggest curves are a couple of shapeless instrumentals towards the end. Earlier, songs like opener Transom are exercises in sustained minimalist tension, while the strangely lovely likes of Don't Think and A Dream to Help Me Sleep, The Nearer By and By can remind of the likes of the early Go-Betweens. But it's bookish, rarefied stuff ensuring Grubbs' minor cult status is safe for now.
Label: Drag City
* Grubbs plays at the Dog's Bollix, Newton (with Graeme Downes, Sleeper's Union) tonight (Thursday).
<i>David Grubbs:</i> Rickets & Scurvy
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