With Jim Kremens' album "Spun", first impressions are likeable enough. He's another American singer-songwriter who plays folk tinged alt pop, his voice reminds me a little bit of Turin Brakes (minus a member) but with better harmonies and production.
"Julianna", "Couldn't love you more than this" and "Lay Down Beside Me" are sweet and impressively warm acoustic numbers with added depth, never over-powering and slightly frozen in their own time. "The Truth About Me" and "Ordinary Day" both break the slow tempo and soar triumphantly. In "Understand" Jim expresses his folk pop without being too dark and dour.
Other songs disappoint. Slightly tepid, inoffensive and
oversentimental, "Give Me Your Kiss" lacks lyrical thought
and "Denied" is a little too rocky for Jim to pull off.
Jim Kremens excels in perfect pop blasts that would perfectly fit in the background of a emotional scene within the latest hit teen series of 'Smallville' or 'Dawson's Creek': in all cases, you keep thinking you've heard these songs before.
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Its hard not to compare him to the blueprint of singer-songwriters like Elliot Smith and Jeff Buckley. But it wouldn't be fair for Jim Kremens, as he doesn't compare to the emotional meltdown of Jeff Buckley nor does he possess the demons of Elliott Smith. He's just...himself, really.
Thoughout the album these tunes have a charmingly uplifting quality, although they sometimes succmb to an MOR middle ground, and while these mid-tempos are a tad safe,they still have enough to manage to shame most contemporary songwriters out there today.
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