Indigo Jones - Death Of A Matador

Certain aspects of a band's sound are indisputably esoteric: often it takes repeated listens for it to make sense and other times it maybe just never will. Vocals are a particularly contentious issue for the layman. Prime examples of opinion-dividing vocalists include David Yow, Joanna Newsom and David Thomas Broughton. So it's important to first observe that the music on Indigo Jones' third release is extremely competent, occasionally catchy. Overwhelmingly alt-country, hampered by glimpses of overly-earnest grunge-lite, a shrewd use of slide guitar and pleasantly roomy drum sound do create atmosphere. It just seems a shame then that the vocals arrive like a bus full of angry cats, drunkenly plowing through the wall of a church during a child's funeral. Only on Fade to Blue do they almost manage to let the music breathe. Then again, maybe one day it'll suddenly make sense. Just definitely not today.