Daughn GibsonMe Moan
Sub Pop / Inertia

- Alright, if you haven't even a vague notion of who Daughn Gibson is - to get it out of the way, yes - he was once a truck driver, yes - he sings with a voice like Johnny Cash and yes - he blends electronica and country. His debut solo record All Hell was such a strange and fresh sound that precipitated this man into alternative pop's limelight and with this follow-up, Me Moan, everything you loved from All Hell has been either exaggerated to the point of parody or been transformed into something more accessible.

First of all, that guitar! It never stops it seems, on each and every track. Young Josh Martin wanted to use the exact same tone over and over in order to stand up and say "Hey, you know I really dug my grandfather's country record collection" in amongst fiddling with DJ equipment. The record too seems to be totally devoid of any real emotion. Well, nothing that A Young Girl's World conveyed. It sounds as if someone was vomiting up carob whilst listening to commercial radio and watching paint dry. Basically, it lacks depth both musically and lyrically.

Before even hitting play, seeing the album's provocatively staged artwork it just doesn't feel right. First track The Sound of Law feels okay as an opener but doesn't really peak or even grab your attention, but just putters its way through, barely grabbing you enough to even keep listening. Then comes Phantom Rider which sounds like sleaze: Martin's vocals are a bit out of place but then you're like ok, that's cool, everyone is doing that sound at the moment, keep it coming. Then Mad Ocean kicks in and again, it's just superbly average. This seems to be what the Daughn Gibson marketing team have conjured up: a record that you will buy, wander through, semi-comatose, waiting for something amazing to happen, and then nothing. It’s over.

Lead single You Don't Fade is a track that has crossover appeal, referencing the Daughn of old, but offering plenty of come-on for the punters in night club X or in the electro tent at festival Y. Lyrically it is comparatively solid and it's electronics, while they won't have me back for a repeat listen, will keep you entertained for the three odd minutes it lasts. Franco is a mediocre ballad that makes a flagging appeal to your sentimentality. You Don't Fade is one of the only moments on the record that requires repeat listens, beginning down a more experimental route and rounding out with a searing country-kraut jam.

All Hell sounded like old school Americana mixed with the freakshow sounds of Xiu Xiu but Me Moan gives us Passion Pit crossed with Kings of Leon and that guy at the local doing covers in a tawdry American accent when he sings the country tunes (actually kinda like moments on Jack Ladder’s last outing…). Me Moan is a shadow of what came before, suggesting that All Hell was a one off a fad that couldn't last. But then again, All Hell was a grower, something that you had to invest in, take your time with. Perhaps Me Moan is what it takes to succeed commercially, to shoot like a frontal-lobe- splattering bullet through the ears of the masses.

- Brad Armstrong.

Daughn GibsonMe Moan

Chris CobcroftNew Releases Show

Slowdiveeverything is alive

Schkeuditzer KreuzNo Life Left

Magic City CounterpointDialogue

Public Image LimitedEnd Of World

SejaHere Is One I Know You Know

DeafcultFuture of Illusion

CorinLux Aeterna

FingerlessLife, Death & Prizes

Jack LadderTall Pop Syndrome

LIVE
100