Splendid Magazine August 24th 2004 http://www.splendidezine.com/
THOMAS DENVER JONSSON
& THE SEPTEMBER SUNRISE
Hope to her
(Kite)
Format reviewed: cd
Remember the old joke that Sweden exports nothing
but bright, bouncy feel-good Europop? The Hives-
led garage rock revival has finally deflated that
stereotype, and this alt-country artist might put
the final nail in that decomposing coffin. On Hope
To Her, Jonsson complements his ordinary but
soothing music with vocals that at best recall
Neil Young circa Harvest and at worst waver in
and out of tune like a bored Freedy Johnston.
A haunting a capella number ("Pale") conveys how
effectively Jonsson's untrained voice stands alone,
if only for 84 seconds. Otherwise, he adequately
blends into his band's amiable backdrops, his
wobbly tone in sync with all the expected harmonica
and slide guitar solos. Everything's mid-tempo,
mournful, plainspoken and restrained, and
unfortunately a little dull as well. For
every song like "Shades of Green", which begins as
clichéd folk but blossoms into full-bodied wonder,
there's one like "Come on Up", which features a vibrant,
electric chorus but not a strong enough hook.
On this promotional CD, Jonsson's most affecting number,
"First in Line", is reprised as a stripped-down live
duet with Rosie Thomas (Jonsson playing the Damien
Jurado part, although Jurado also plays on the recording).
The duet is available on a forthcoming EP; as heard here
with the original, they're undeniably lovely bookends.
CHRIS KRIOFSKE