Various Artists – Woolly Jumpers

This collection from scattershot French label Wool Recordings is nothing if not testing. Its 18 tracks kick off with the sickly Drug Song by Dave Bixby, an ode to a life ravished by drugs and recorded in a way that does invoke feelings of nausea. From there, Woolly Jumpers flounders in following founder Frank Rabeyrolles’ thought process: “Style is not important for us.”

On the evidence presented, the majority of artists seem all too content with their drugged-out, retro melancholia, the hashish all but leaking out the stereo speakers. There’s the odd respite, such as the jumpy (jokey?) psychedelia of Wolf People, a law-suit enticing facsimile of mid-period Elliott Smith by Luther Russell and the jaunty 70s rock of Sarabeth Tucek. However, there’s little on Woolly Jumpers that pushes any envelopes or will leave you wondering why, on the whole, you’ve never crossed paths before, and at 18 tracks it’s a guest that well outstays its welcome. Fucking stoners. [Darren Carle]