All Smiles
(self-released)
Jim Fairchild's latest solo release under his All Smiles moniker unabashedly displays his musical pedigree. Fairchild has played in Grandaddy, Earlimart, and most recently, Modest Mouse. Though skronky, Isaac Brock guitar squeals are largely absent from this new record, the lazy, hazy central California pop-rock of Fairchild's former bands permeates his songwriting. Elliott Smith is clearly another big reference point here, but Fairchild's hushed vocals and borderline-folk style pales in comparison to Smith's tired and wasted emotions.
Everything about All Smiles is even-paced, often excruciatingly so. The tempos, the singing, the medium doses of distorted guitars that pop up every now and then, the subtle guitar licks that emblazon strummed chords - it all chugs along at a pleasant but yawning 30 mph. It's not that Fairchild needs a gimmick to enliven his music. It's just that this style of contemporary mope-rock has been done many times before, with much more finesse.
Standout Tracks: "Maps To The Homes of Former Foes," "Brother I Know My Way" JONAH FLICKER
