White Williams, Smoke

By Transworld
Tue, Nov 27 2007 2:00 pm | Comments White Williams
Smoke
Tigerbeat6
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White Williams is actually a 23-year-old one-man-band from Ohio. Young Joe Williams makes f’d-up, computer-based art-pop that variously and sometimes egregiously suckles at the teats of T Rex, Of Montreal, and Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie. That Williams had the wherewithal to craft these songs alone on a computer, moving from town to town (Cleveland, Cincinnati, N.Y., and S.F.) is—at the very least—a testament to the gentleman’s fortitude. However, about four songs in, the album’s rigidly precise beats and repetitive riffs take their toll. Rather than get the party started, it all just starts to feel rather monotonous. Nevertheless, standout tracks do exist: “Going Down sounds like a cross between the Pixies’ “Dig For Fire and just about anything by The Sea And Cake, and “Route To Palm with its Kraut-rock beat, chiming guitars, and plaintive mood is gonna sound just fine when it pops up randomly on the old iTunes.—Arlie Carstens