Protest Hill |
Pretty good showing from System and Station’s RFK Heise. Melding blues, rock, folk and the like he emerges with a sound that recalls the immortal TK Webb, Old Canes and a whole host of other underground cats. The best tunes, namely “Killer’s Witt,” “Hopeful” and “Bell’s Song” are fully realized and gorgeous; the weakest, namely “Only The Lonely” and “Matches” sound strained and derivative, as though Heise has worked a little too hard at making them sound unfinished and unrefined. Why a songwriter of his remarkable powers would half-ass his way through a single note remains a mystery and thus we can probably chalk both those missteps and the flawed but charming “Sometimes” up to misguided experimentation. A fun and occasionally inconsistent record from an artist who comes across as the same. –Jedd Beaudoin (2007, The Daily Copper) |