The Strangely Possibles
Junkyard Stew
self-released
The Strangely Possibles’ new album, Junkyard Stew, is a treasure chest of questionable choices.
First off, why is it called “Junkyard Stew”? And why does the cover feature what looks like a painting of a vagina next to a tree with a classical guitar growing out of its trunk? If you’re like me, you’ll be asking yourself these questions before you even get the CD out of its plastic wrapping.
Band leader Al Timpson writes slow to mid-tempo countrified pop songs about girls, blood and guitars. I was impressed by all the quality help the five-piece Possibles got with this record. The liner notes list no fewer than 25 additional musicians, a Who’s Who of locally famous singers, djembists and horn players that runs from Albee to Zoidis. Though their contributions don’t hurt the album, they can’t mask the fact these songs aren’t very strong.
Junkyard Stew opens with the snoozer “Wannabe,” in which Timpson tells his beloved he wants to be a “place for her.” What kind of place? A place “so still you hear your own heartbeat … so still you hear your wind chimes ring.” The woman he’s singing to is apparently skeptical about the existence of this place (and may also be wondering why her wind chimes are there), because by the time the chorus hits, he’s begging her not to “say that this place could never be real, although it might be true.” Although it might be true? That’s not fair at all.
Timpson’s lyrics and vocals are a problem throughout the album. He sounds sincere, but when he growls lines like “Venice is a man bound head to toe,” you hope that, for his own good, he’s not taking himself too seriously. Unfortunately, he is.
The best song on the album is the one Timpson doesn’t sing. “Lucky # 7” is a pretty ballad sung by Anna Lombard. It’s the simplest song on the record, with a nice melody and lovely chorus-guitar line. It makes you wish Timpson and crew had spent more time writing good melodies and less time asking questions like, “What makes raptured poets laugh in rage?”
— Peet Chamberlain
For more on the Strangely Possibles, and to hear their new album, visit thestrangelypossibles.com.
