TEENBEAT !

Highly rated by the few who have heard it, this tormented religious loner/downer folk LP has to rank as one of the ultimate incarnations of the genre. The opening “Drug Song” sets the tone perfectly as a supremely world-weary, echo-laden guy laments on how he screwed himself up with dope; “I’m no longer a person, I can’t even feel”. The resolution is (of course) Christ, who is serenaded in the following tracks, although the despairing, suicidal mood is strangely unchanged. Salvation or none, it seems most things are still a mess for Bixby. Numbers such as “Mother” and the Grudzien-level “666” confirm such suspicions. Musically it’s a wellwritten lo-fi recording of steelstringed acoustic and a single voice, much like Christopher Montgomery, but undoubtedly more tortured and intense. Frantic guitar strumming is used to tighten up the tension in an effective way a la Perry Leopold, while more lyrical moods are supported by swift fingerpicking. The vocals are amateurish and somewhat uneven, and in fact work best when most charged with emotion. The organic correspondence between lyrics, playing and arrangements is impressive and makes the LP seem more alive and artistically aware than most in this often disappointing genre. Must be heard by any fringe fan.

Dave Bixby - Drug Song