Coming after the early-'90s stretch of
Bevis Frond
releases, most of which were recorded with outside musicians, 1996's
Son of Walter
feels like a return to the one-man-band D.I.Y. feel of early
albums like
Miasma
.
Nick Saloman
recorded the album entirely on his own, playing all the instruments himself in his bedroom, and the results stretch out over two full-to-the seams vinyl discs or one well-packed CD. The difference is that
Saloman
has improved markedly as a songwriter in the intervening years, and the spottiness of those early albums, along with the wanky 15-minute
acid rock
guitar jams, is largely absent here. Opening with the one-two punch of
"Plastic Elvis"
and
"Beautiful Sister,"
two of
's finest songs,
is an entirely credible successor to 1991's excellent
New River Head
, the album it most resembles in its mix of smart
pop
songs (
"You Saw Me Coming"
being another standout in that vein), cranky
psychedelia
, and folkish
ballads
. A new emphasis on keyboards, including some vintage synthesizers, gives the album a slightly different sound than before. Oddly largely ignored upon its release,
is a hidden gem in the
catalog. ~ Stewart Mason