Kelly Stoltz – To Dreamers

Sitting somewhere between the Velvet Underground and T Rex, San Francisco multi-instrumentalist Kelley Stoltz' musical horizons remain fixed firmly in the past. With his seventh long player the aforementioned mix with the Beatles and Beach Boys in a pleasing lo-fi blend that, predictably enough, always evokes something you’ve heard once before but can’t quite put your finger on. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as Stoltz retains some of the song writing genius of his heroes.

He is a strong, economical craftsman, refusing to overload his tunes when a fuzzy guitar and a direct lyric will do the job. While acknowledging its not inconsiderable debt to Lou Reed’s Sweet Jane, I Remember, You Were Wild has one of those breezy infectious tunes that stay with you all day; ditto Ventriloquist. When he sings: “Baby I’ve got news for you; I just bought new shoes for you,” it’s hard not to smile. A nice dream then, just not an entirely progressive one. [PJ Meiklem]