Also, he sounds a wee bit like Mick Jagger, if that's your thing.

So I was poking about eMusic and I came across this odd little ep. I grabbed it because the name appealed to me, which almost never works out well. ("Hmmm, 'a fever you can't sweat out?' that's an interesting album title, I might buy it...") But in this case I've been pleasantly surprised, in an odd way.

The ep is in a style of music I thought I'd moved past. Rough, demo sounding songs by vaguely off key musicians. Like that first Green Day album (god, how I loved that first Green Day album). But "Cheekbone Hollows (Pop. 1/2 Life)" (seriously, how cool an album name is that?) does have more to offer than just straight up garagy rock. There is a hint of violin here and there, some male and female vocal interaction. Hmm, I guess I would say it's less early Green Day and more like, um, let's see have you ever heard one of those Connor Oberst demos where he sounds kind of drunk and its just him and sound friends throwing a song together? The six songs on this ep sound a little like that, but more deliberate, more carefully crafted. Like the guy who spends three and half hours making his hair look like he did it in five minutes. But much less douch-y than that.

It's rough and shambling, but at the same time a little twee and more than a little charming. So if lo-fi gems have ever held a place in your heart, give this a try.

(Oh, oh, and the lyrics are awesome. But that's pretty much a given for any music I post about, all about the words, that's me: "But I keep hearing talk of the doom, and they’re sending the meek home, and that’s not half as bad as the shadow, that’s caught in the hollow of your cheekbone" this is the stuff that keeps me going).

Cheekbone Hollows - The Childballads
They Hunt Us We Run - The Childballads