Aaron Sprinkle's amazing debut on Silent Planet records, features ten songs of chillingly good quality. In every melodically crystalline vocal, every poignantly strummed chord, all of the delicately shrewd lyrical turns of phrase, and set warmly within the tastefully gritty instrumentation, this album richly rewards repeated listenings. Like Elliott Smith's ethereal and elegant Either/Or, or Matthew Sweet's more sincere confessional moments, the material on Bareface is quietly but assertively compelling. Aaron's history of intelligent interplay with musicians since his boyhood, from the dynamic tension in Poor Old Lu, to his mentoring of praise music innovator Sherri Youngward on her three albums, has enabled him to pick up comrades such as her drummer, Joey Sanchez, whose fluid playing graces Bareface beneath Aaron's picking and strumming. Also on board is pedal steel player, Kevin Suggs, from the roots band Evangeline, whose weeping strings help to make Bareface a melancholy delight.
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Chris MacIntoshOkay, let's get my one gripe about this album out of the way right away before we get down to business. This album is just too short. I want more--a lot more. This should have been a double--if not a triple--album. It is that good. Now, I'm not making a direct comparison, but the vibe that I get from this record is very similar to the stuff that Neil Young did back in the '70s with The Stray…Similar sounding releases
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