Timber Timbre

Hot Dreams
Arts & Crafts
Street: 04.01
Timber Timbre = Elvis Presley + Dirty Beaches

Taylor Kirk of Timber Timbre has a devilish croon that can make Halloween seem like the most romantic holiday of the year. His band’s third album finds their inimitable style evolving once again, yet stumbling in the same ways creatively. The obsessive-romantic sway from 2011’s Creep on Creepin’ On is all but gone on this album, save its full-blown nature on the title track. As is the case with most singles, the song is a complete standout (musically, not lyrically) from the rest of the album. TT can jump from western, space-blues like “Grand Canyon” to night lounge ballads without a wink, not to mention their instrumental freak-outs. Their music is brilliant enough to create the feeling of reading a book and seeing a movie all through song, but their inconsistency keeps them from creating their magnum opus. Nevertheless, this is not an album to miss. –Justin Gallegos