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Album Details

• Artist: Josh Hodges
• Album: Sexton Blake
• Label: Expunged Records
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: challey on 2004-12-10

During the late 90's, artists such as Beck and Elliot Smith helped to bring in a wave of singer/songwriters, especially among the indie scene. Josh Hodges' debut album, Sexton Blake, proves that this style of writing hasn't really died out yet. For a collection of songs written and then recorded by Hodges on his computer, it sounds surprisingly impressive; the do-it-yourself technique hardly shows.

After the fifty-second "Intro" comes the most impressive song on the album, "Emma." On it, he combines Beatles and Elliot Smith-esque melodies with simple, mostly electronic hooks, and it sets up the feel of most of the rest of the album. In fact, some of the vocal melodies sound so similar to those found on Either/Or that Hodges very carefully walks the line between being influenced and ripping-off.

It's hard to distinguish the songs from one another, but it suits the mood of the album well; it makes it feel like one continuous thought or feeling. The lyrics are often about typical themes of love and loss, but are never annoying and they never feel like a retread of other artists. Occasionally, a surprise or two will show up, such as the turntable scratching in "East Of" but these usually fit right in since they are enveloped tightly in the bass-heavy atmosphere.

While Josh Hodges does not have enough variety to stand out among the ever-increasing group of indie singer/songwriters, he clearly talented and can write some pretty good tunes. If he releases another album full of new ideas, he may gain a larger fanbase and could become one of the most well-respected artists in his genre.

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