Ouch. There’s something here that’s just not working. Maybe it’s the way Jimmy Lloyd tends to be way too repetitive in the lyrics to his songs (“Maybe,” “Half Human”), or maybe it’s the way this album sounds like it was recorded quickly and the band doesn’t sound quite as tight as they should (drummer Ian McGlynn almost sounds lost at times on “Half Human”). Then there are the strained lyrical conceits (“Maybe you have a thing for black guys, maybe your mother didn’t love you enough”; “well I never felt as anonymous as I did in the west Texas rain / It sure as hell wasn’t Christ risin’ beneath the billboard of his name.”) Indeed, Lloyd’s strained singing to hit some of those notes on “Siddhartha in a Chevy” is just painful at times. Springsteen this guy ain’t. “cop Bar” isn’t half as tough as it wants to be and “Are You Ready to Keep Some Secrets” is just plain corny. Lloyd seems competent enough, but there’s nothing on this album to really prove it too well. (self-released)
