Conor Oberst is coming to San Diego October 1st and I’ll be there. An all-time favorite, his best songwriting happens in the intensely personal. In his early albums as the collective known as Bright Eyes, his sound ranged from a quiet intimate warble to a folk symphony. His sound is polarizing- people tend to love or hate him, or today, simply not know who he is.
D.C.R. Pollock, from Costa Mesa, CA is much less known but I can see his genre blending sound that he describes as “Neo-Americana” being as polarizing. With an eclectic sound that bends and blecnd genres from R&B and Jazz, to Folk and Americana and lyrics that dive into deep tales of tragedy or triumph he approaches an early Bright Eyes sound with a 2018 aesthetic.
Two songs need to be checked out with a quickness before you forget and get back to what you always listen to. “Cold Tub (Hot Garage Demo)” and “Hank Williams” are great. A third single from the last year “Hysterical Parade” gets too experimental for me but if you dig the first two check it out. The vocals on “Cold Tub” seep pathos and I look forward to falling into their literal and figurative meaning. With ghostly back-ups and steady electric strum filling the sonic room the song builds to a crescendo and then quickly fades. “Hank Williams,” on the other hand, has a lush jazzy sound approaching R&B and perhaps sounding a bit like Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. With horns, synths, and percussion the song shows a talent for arrangement.
These two songs reveal a talented songwriter who needs to find a bigger audience to provide the fuel to get more music produced. Do yourself a favor and check out his unique sound.
The Indy Review 