Caught in the Carousel

Dave Derby and the Norfolk Downs

...And the Norfolk Downs
Reveal Records

Dave Derby

Dave Derby's second solo CD, ...And the Norfolk Downs, is a like a box of Polaroids and battered postcards from a cross-country odyssey. From the siren call of "Come On Come On" to the haunting "Albuquerque," in which the traveler vanishes into a shimmering mirage, ...And the Norfolk Downs is an alt-pop road-trip soundtrack complete with a trance-inducing middle third that will help you forget that flat stretch of nothing between Here and There.

Most of the tracks are charming and memorable. I woke up in the middle of the night singing "Olivine," an exuberant ditty about mirages and empty dreams. "Beaten Down" sounds like mid-80s Lou Reed, with sung-spoken lyrics, New York attitude, and a deft pop hook. "Oh True," a collaboration with Lloyd Cole and Jill Sobule, is another catchy head bopper that dips into the Nashville sound. "Never Leave" is an earnest, impossible promise, sweetly wrought, and "You've Got to Go" is one of the best requiems I've ever heard; it's best taken with freeway speeds and open windows. "Albuquerque" is truly the bonus track of the CD, an instrumental that unwinds like a long ribbon of desert highway. If the state of New Mexico ever needs a theme song, this is a contender.

As for that middle third -- despite intelligent lyrics and clever background vocals, some tracks blend into homogenous noise, ambivalent dirges at the altars of Woe and Disillusionment. "Overnight Low" is an intense, breathy lament upon the death of a friend; "Even in Darkness" jabs impotently at a politically unrecognizable country; "Sugar and Violets" and "My Back Issues" are hazy apologies to ghosts from the past; and "Sunset Sublet" is an inevitable poke at the fantasy of fame in Los Angeles. Individually, each song offers points of interest; together, they threw my brain into neutral.

Derby's background includes work with the Dambuilders, Brillantine, Mascott, and collaborations with Joan Wasser (Joan As Police Woman), Lloyd Cole, Jill Sobule, and many others. He is a skilled composer, songwriter, and musician, with a stack of credits ranging from indie rock to scores for TV and film. Despite the album's uneven pacing, ...And the Norfolk Downs is thoughtful, reflective, and appealing. Derby's next greatest challenge will be in distinguishing himself from the rest of the Fellapalooza singer/songwriters that currently dominate the category (David Gray, Ryan Adams, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, et al.).

--Lyn Dunagan