Denton, Texas must be the lo-fi capital of the world. The Baptist Generals call Denton home and are absolutely in love with the sound of tape hiss; Centro-Matic are known to leave things rough and loose; and now I've added Stanton Meadowvale to my list of Denton based set-up-a-single-low-grade-ambient-mic-and-go recording artists.
However Meadowvale has neither Centro-Matic's hooks nor the Generals' anguished howl to propel his tracks forward. Though he may turn the occasional phrase there's just not enough here to sustain an entire record. There's a depth to Meadowvale's writing, but ultimately that depth is undermined by his refusal to move beyond a fairly plodding pace and by the tendency for his vocals to drop flat.
I get the feeling that Meadowvale has listened to his fair share of Mountain Goats records, but John Darnielle he ain't.
