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Song Book Magazine
Winter 2005 | February - May Tim Lee Tim Lee's second solo after the demise of his band The Windbreakers has had a painful gestation. A few friends messing about in a studio has turned into a full eighteen months of various studios, a plethora of producers and engineers and an original cast of twenty-one tracks now trimmed to thirteen. By all accounts the last track was only completed on the day before the whole thing went off for mastering. But it has survived and blossomed from the experience. This is a rockier CD than The Windbreakers or Tim's last solo effort Under the House and the first track, "I Wanna Believe" roars off the start line conjuring up no less a garage classic than The Electric Prunes' "I Had Too Much to Dream". The CD cover art shows a charcoaled, burnt-out guitar body and the fire and passon of this album can be held responsible for the conflagration without fear of contradiction. There's a world-weary Tom petty feel to a lot of the tracks, especially the title track, and Tim's guitar attack is meatier and rockier than usual. There are hints of psychedelia and garage and all sorts of straight-ahead crunch, no doubt down to the range of producers bring out the best in him. That's not to say it's a full-on rock as "New Hope" shows Tim's Americana side, sounding like Uncle Tupelo/Jay Farrar at their most laid-back, and showing the benefits of Tim mixing and playing with members of Wilco and Blue Mountain. If you miss that foot-to-the-floor rock that REM did before turning soft, and enjoy that Neal Casal/Nadine attack, and all peppered with the great guitar work of a veteran of the pop scene, then Tim's yer man. --Richard Cooper |