Not quite 88 miles an hour

Not Exotic

Dolorean

YepRoc Records

Al James, the heart…

Not Exotic

Dolorean

YepRoc Records

Al James, the heart and soul of Dolorean, claims he is a very happy person. But to listen to this album, one is inclined not only to disbelieve him, but also to put him on round-the-clock suicide watch.

Dolorean, a folky group fronted by singer-songwriter James, comes out of Portland bearing gifts of morbid acoustic arrangements and pensive, distant lyrical stylings for those of us who miss Nick Drake. While the group, consisting of James, Ben Nugent, Jeff Saltzman, and Jay Clarke, each on a variety of instruments, with James on vocals, generally shrugs off the connotative designation of “folk rock,” the sound they produce is largely best described as such.

There is, however, a great deal of uniqueness to the sound, as well – elements of country, blues and even a myriad of classical instruments, from cello to mandolin and piano, combine to very subtly but theatrically evoke the profound sadness conveyed by the lyrics.

Loneliness, distance, heartbreak and numbness pervade the album. While such themes are not at all unusual for acoustic rock music, only rarely are they conveyed with such intense sincerity and earnestness as they are by Dolorean. Even the most jaded listener will not be immune to the simple, honest and unabashedly miserable nature of James’ lyrics. Radiohead, eat your heart out.

If there are any complaints to be made, the most noteworthy would be that the album, for all the complexity of its arrangements, does not offer a great deal of sonic or thematic variation. While the folk-infused acoustic sound is indeed well-developed, it is incessant and largely unchanging throughout, creating an album that sounds more like one incredibly long song than an album with nine distinct ones. Similarly, the lyrics are unrelentingly morose. While this does in some way aid the lyrical impact – the sheer persistence of the misery being one of its weightiest qualities – it does make listening to the album a rather draining experience. However, it should be said that, this being something of a concept album about a journey into the ugliest depths of detachment and self-loathing, perhaps no moment of respite from the downbeat sound or words would be appropriate. At the very least, it might’ve been difficult to buy.

The sheer, uncompromising emotive content of this release is certainly its strongest asset, and perhaps that is what Dolorean is all about. This is an excellent freshman effort, and one that warrants a good listen for fans of this type of music. If Not Exotic is any indication of things to come for Dolorean, this is a group that we can expect to produce some excellent material as their sound develops over coming years.