All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers

Artist: Micah P. Hinson
Label: Pod/Inertia
Website: micahphinson.com

Ah singing, it was pretty good wasn’t it? Bit of harmony here, bit of discord there, almost as though you’ve got a whole extra instrument at play in the composition. Of course singing is still with us, it’s not like it died or anything, but as music has changed so too has the style of vocal. For every hideous Hip-Pop-R'n'b record there exists a tooth disintegrating autotune whine, for every regurgitated, homogenised, glorified talent show banality there is a skin crawlingly derivative, soulless nobody, crooning out their sob story in as close a manner as Mariah or Timberlake as possible. So as you can see it’s doomed, all of it. But wait, what’s this? A man singing like a bear with a sore tooth? A man re-appropriating other artists’ music without feeling obliged to churn out a vapid cover or convert it into a taste obliterating electro house remix. Saints alive, it’s Micha P. Hinson and his cover album All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers.

Now don’t be too alarmed, this isn’t the second coming, nor is he ever going to be bigger than Elvis, The Beatles or Jesus. He is however a shameless practitioner of singing, playing instruments and not being a massive biter, unlike many other performers in mainstream music. On this outing he’s selected a bunch of songs to cover, most of which won’t surprise you but then again cover albums are supposed to be a new interpretation of familiar material. The first disc comprises mainly of vocal driven ballads from the likes of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and John Denver, all passed off without much trouble (unsurprising considering he sounds like a cross between Dylan, Brad Roberts and Hootie), the standout coming in the form of a well pitched version of 'My Way' that just avoids being as discordant as the Sex Pistols’ howl along. However its the second disc that provides the real entertainment as Hinson tackles some more substantial material. His cover of Leadbelly’s The Pines is inspired, complete with full on wall of sound guitars and tolling bells it completely flips the script on its source material and stomps seven shades out of the much vaunted Nirvana live cover.

However the most powerful offering on show is the final track; a daring cover of the George Harrison penned 'While my Guitar Gently Weeps', which imbues the original with a powerful sense of dread and menace that might cause devout fans to suddenly birth a whole litter of kittens, such would be the extent of their fear and consternation. In fact it’s this edge that sets the album aside from many other similar records. At no point is there a track that allows for comfortable listening, instead in Hinson’s hands they all take on a much more sinister slant, almost as though he’s playing a concert to the damned in a small tavern neighbouring onto Davy Jones’ Locker.

If you prefer your music to be soothingly familiar and non-confrontational then its unlikely that you’ll enjoy All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers, however anyone else should probably give it a go, even the purists among you may find yourselves pleasantly surprised.

James Farrell