Short Shorts

Chuck Williams - Lightning In A Bottle (Independent)
A star of the Mattapoisett coffeehouse circuit, singer-songwriter Chuck Williams owes a debt to folkies like James Taylor, but he does enough on Lightning In A Bottle. Strong songs and a keen delivery are at the album's core. The playing is tight and lucid, and the arrangements get quickly to the point allowing Williams to get his message across. If you're in the market for a new singer-songwriter with something to say, be sure to check him out.

Serial Obsession - Shotgun Opera (Independent)
They're not afraid to rock! Serial Obsession is a New York quartet equally at home in a basement or in an arena. Their talent for making the epic appear sleazy and dirty is to be much admired, and with a guitar sound that somehow combines the utterly contemporary crackle and fizz of Muse with the classic rock of two decades ago, it can only be a matter of time (and luck) before we've all got "All The Way" or "Dear Abby" whizzing 'round our brains.

Colin Clyne - Doricana (Starving Dog)
Doricana is the mix of the Scottish Doric dialect with Americana. Simple. Nothing to be scared about, and you wont need a degree in Celtic languages to understand the songs. Clyne's a Scottish-born singer-songwriter based in the USA. He combines his origins and present habitat by adding a large helping of passionate, Caledonian soul to his rootsy, acoustic songs, and for the most part it works just fine. He describes himself as the love child of Mike Myers 'Fat bastard' and Neil Young - harsh.

Simon M.

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