40oz Makes an Impact; Halstead Goes Solo

4 Stars

And you thought 40oz was just a Sublime cover ban. Actually, the ska-based Chapel Hill group has wasted no time releasing an album with its own songs and style.

After two years of covering Sublime songs, 40oz has crafted an album of catchy originals that are ideal for live venues. On Impacto, its first album, the band's intermingling of ska, rock and reggae make for upbeat tunes and 11 tracks of high-energy fun.

Chris Blount and Mark Belk's fast-paced, head-bopping guitar riffs, Marco Garvin's fast drum beats and Pisli Vallecillo's precision on bass guitar give Impacto a strong, energetic background.

Against this solid panorama, Blount's sweet, light-hearted vocals (which to no surprise hold a striking resemblance to those of Sublime's Brad Nowell) soften the album's rapid cadences. Andy Francis and Justin Burns contribute trombone and saxophone sequences that are essential to Impacto's ska sound and make the album's short, quick tracks so danceable.

This blend of instrumental styles best reveals itself in "Waiting for You," a track that's bound to bring folks out to the dance floor. Variation is key with this tune when Blount, Belk and Vallecillo generate a quick, jumpy beat that fades into a jazzy instrumental interlude and back. Here, the talent and precision behind the bass, sax and trombone are evident.

In "Good Feelin'," the lyrics lace the jumping ska-rock music with a good-natured, laid-back personality -- one that belongs to 40oz. "I got a good, good feelin' over me/Like I walk out and I love everyone I see/I don't want to be anyone but me/And my woman's gonna make sweet love to me," Blount sings on this track, setting a blissful, carefree mood that is infectious and playful.

And while the spirit of Sublime unquestionably lives in this band, 40oz has put forth an impressive compilation that reflects an identity of its own.

But all in all, 40oz's Impacto is just a rockin' good time.

By Caroline Lindsey

Neil Halstead
Sleeping On Roads
3 Stars

Any Englishman with a guitar and a spun-glass voice draws the inevitable Nick Drake comparisons -- and indeed Neil Halstead, frontman of the British indie-folk outfit Mojave 3, cites Drake as one of his idols.

The others are Bob Dylan and The Byrd's Roger McGuinn, and it shows in the folky sensibilities that undergird Halstead's songwriting.

He's left Mojave 3 behind to go solo for Sleeping On Roads, adding a few new elements to the band's slow, melodic country-rock formula.

The delicate melancholy is still there, but this time out Halstead aimed for "folk songs, but recorded in a more Spiritualized sort of way." The result is sad, simple melodies dressed up with a little production artistry.

But despite some creative instrumentation, including glockenspiel, trumpet, cello and Hammond organ, all the songs seem to have the same character.

Halstead's confessional vocals show little range over the nine tracks. His often-cliched lyrics sound lovely in his whispery voice but don't offer a fresh perspective on life, love or anything else.

On the tracks where Halstead's uncomplicated melodies are surrounded by swirling orchestral production effects, Sleeping on Roads sounds like it's trying to jump on the Belle & Sebastian gravy train -- a couple of years too late.

But in a few shining moments, Halstead's songs recall early Tom Waits and even lean toward the Dylanesque. He's at his best when his lilting vocals float above barely-audible guitar work like on "Martha's Mantra (For The Pain)," a somber indictment of groupie sex that might make even Motley Cr