Category:
Rock

Try if you like:
Jeff Buckley, Jeff Klein, Twilight Singers

d. biddle is quiet, moody post-rock noir that floats in and out of the Jeff Klein-Greg Dulli mode while making some literate and uncomfortable statements of its own.

The prime mover behind all this is Duncan Barlow, guitarist, songwriter, and PHD candidate in Writing. He was also in a bunch of Lousiville hardcore bands, most notably Endpoint. On this release, he is joined by a great supporting cast, especially Danghead’s Jaime Smith on guitar and Erin Roberts, from Porlolo, on trumpet and keyboards. Others contribute flute and clarinet as well; the muted presence of the brass and reeds add an ominous, melancholy tone to the tracks without overpowering them.

The engine remains Barlow and his guitar. That gives all the tracks a solid Americana/folk core from which Barlow breanches out into darker fare. But songs like “Hungertown” and “Restoration Son,” while gothic, have enough space for a breeze. This is a brooding record, but that is not to say a pessimistic one. Likewise, while the lyrical premise of tunes like “A Promise Made To Be Broken” or “Education in Aging” are hardly sunny, there is enough humanity to help the tunes rise above the depressing and/or literary conceit.

In all, this is a memorable debut. With d.biddle, Barlow has a persona and a wide palette with which to work some small emotional and musical miracles; on this release, the best most moments certainly are that.