Jeff Rowe-Barstool Conversations
Anchorless
August 24, 2010

It seems like every time a punk rock artist releases a solo album, its expected to be folk or country influenced. I'm guilty of this myself, seeing the artist's (not a band) name and a sincere sounding album title, and automatically thinking that its going to sound like Chuck Ragan or Tim Barry, hoping to one day be a part of The Revival Tour. There's nothing wrong with that, but I like hearing artists that don't follow the paths that other people are paving. Jeff Rowe is one of those people.

With a clean voice, Rowe puts forth 12 songs of downtrodden honesty. I'm reminded of Tony Sly's 12 Song Program and Saves the Day's I'm Sorry You're Leaving albums. The guitar lines are some of the better ones I've heard from a singer/songwriter, with some getting stuck in my head more than his wonderful vocal performance ("Kate" is a great guitar line). Drums and other instruments are used sparingly, but this is mostly Rowe at the helm. You can tell that he loves these songs, putting his all into every note sung and strummed. This pays off in the end, as this is an album that brings maximum enjoyment.

Written by: RF
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