Singer/songwriter
Tim Perry, who records under the project name
Pseudosix, sings as if the first rock & roll singer he ever heard was
Stephen Malkmus: someone could literally light a fire under his butt and
Perry likely wouldn't be able to raise his voice beyond the vague, disinterested mumble that he affects throughout all ten of these songs. No matter what the musical style of the tune in question, from the sort of
Jimmy Webb-meets-
Lee Hazlewood easy listening country of "A Million Shards" to the propulsive bass and tense brushed drums of "Under the Waves,"
Perry's bored-to-death vocals drag down the entire album. This is really a shame, because the songs themselves are varied and melodically interesting, and those snippets of lyrics that
Perry can be bothered to enunciate have some sharp, clever lines.
Perry has slowly moved
Pseudosix from a one-man band solo project to a fully-fledged group over the course of the Portland, OR act's short career. Now if he'd hand the microphone to someone else as well, they'd be in business.