(Spunk/EMI)

Second album from indie-beloved singer-songwriter

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson uses his full name like a prairie poet or a self-made 19^th century prospector. With such earnestness, you’d expect some gritty and authentic all-American indie rock to ensue. And you’d be right. Robinson’s second album takes on Springsteen and Tom Petty-style AOR radio excursions and makes them a bit scruffy, most impressively in third track The Sound. One of the rough edges is Robinson’s voice, with its inevitable Dylan influences, but ultimately coming across like a nervier Conor Oberst. His cool indie credentials are firmly established by the presence of producer and TV On The Radio member Kyp Malone (Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor oversaw Robinson’s debut self-titled record). Malone layers on the sound – dramatic guitar build-ups, warm-sounding Rhodes piano – but retains the raggedy centre of the songs. Criticisms? Well, Robinson’s straining voice will be an acquired taste for some, so spending over an hour in his company is not everyone’s idea of a good time. Also, the 11-minute minute ramble More Than A Mess takes way too long to get to the payoff – a soaring blend of rising organs, guitars and brass segueing into a poignant and atmospheric guitar/keyboard coda. Much of Robinson’s sprawling take on classic American rock is intriguing, but a tad more editing would not have gone astray.

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MATT THROWER

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