Sorry Vampire focuses on relationships, fragility

Sorry…Sorry Vampire John Ralston Rocks Like: Belle and Sebastian, Bright Eyes, Pete Yorn Vagrant Records

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John Ralston’s Florida band just released its second album, Sorry Vampire, as a followup to its first LP, Needle Bed.

Both records were released through the independent label, Vagrant Records, a group that welcomes bands like The Get Up Kids, Reggie and The Full Effect, Saves the Day and Dashboard Confessional as the knights of their indie round table.

Sorry Vampire presents a polished assortment of tracks that demonstrate John Ralston’s range and a willingness to work with the minute details of music until it comes off right.

Taken as a whole, the album could be an extended ballad, telling the tale of the struggle between “we” and “I.”

The opening track, “Fragile,” lays out the conflicts to be encountered in the songs to come. A repetitious guitar chord entangled with falling synthesized strings unpacks the lyrics, “We’re so fragile, we’re so calm / We’re innocent of what went wrong.”

The song hints at terminal illness, with “Bite all your fingernails off / When you hear her cancer cough.”

Before we have time to digest that, “The Only Evidence” walks us between the warring fronts of two people: “She can dance. I’m all wood and leather / I can’t forget you girl. And that’s the only evidence.”

With an introduction that changes from calm to crashing, “When I was a Bandage” croons in a wounded voice, “I can’t count / And I can’t think straight / I lost you this afternoon.” The minor chord arrangement climbs slowly up and down the same controlled hillock of emotion, taking a dig at the song’s subject.

The plot thickens in “A Small Clearing,” in which two parties run through a deserted forest accompanied by sounds reminiscent of Super Mario World. By this point, John Ralston is in full swing, the CD playing with its sound, changing from one staid main idea to jury-rigging tonal patterns and guitars.

The final track “Where you used to sleep,” arrives on the heels of three songs that constitute the denial stage in the documentation of a troubled relationship.

To close the CD, Ralston mourns to the beat of a steady, gentle drum and simple acoustic guitar: “Strangers walk through your room / They’re all looking to score / They don’t ask any questions about who lived here before.”

While the arrangements on Sorry Vampire, are more complex than those on Needle Bed, the band loses some of its appeal, opting for frequently synthesized voices in place of its previously raw but endearing sound.

While the earlier album is vocally reminiscent of Tom Petty or Jackson Brown, Sorry Vampire shifts toward more precise harmonies and road trips of instrumentation. The result is both good and bad.

John Ralston has become less distinguishable from his musical peers with sound that brings other bands to mind instead of creating a fascination all their own.

Despite the change, there is a lot to look forward to from John Ralston. Mark Sorry Vampire down as a middle stage: The band has progressed beyond the pubescent sound of Needle Bed to the sophisticated (but still enjoyable) tone of the latest album. Look for a union between sophistication and spark in albums to come.

Currently on tour with Limbeck, a sunny, Orange, Calif., band that describes itself as “Pop/Americana,” John Ralston and his band mates will play Garfield Artworks Feb. 27.