This is Jim Tyrrell's first compilation bringing together songs from his four previous albums, Permanent Record (2007), Time For Another Round (2008), Onward To Yesterday (2010), True Stories From a Small World (2014) plus a couple of other tunes one previously un-released and one recorded specially for this compilation. Jim is a busy jobbing musician and regular on the New Hampshire/ New England Music scene where he has regularly played up to 200 gigs a year for most of the last 30 years.
The album opens with Between The Rain is a slightly bitter and twisted song about a partner who nags and nags and nags Jim some more, in-between the showers, as he wonders why she hasn't left already, this plays out over some gentle folk rock with a nod or two to and a steal or three from Stuck In The Middle With You.
Sister Cocaine is a story song about a nun known as Sister Crystal Cocaine, in the way it used to be known as Girl, this makes clear that she's not much fun to hang out with and that the only really memorable thing about her was her name as this builds to the final verse it feels like you're getting that initial rush to the head.
Pencil Me In has a cool power pop feel to this song that makes clear he wants to be Penciled in to your bookings and wants to be on the roster and he'll make good on his promises, this is reminiscent of Danny Wilson.
A Pint In A Broken Glass is a sad tale of a downtrodden drinker, who is so far down that hole he's drinking his pint out of a broken glass, this has the feel of an olde Irish folk song being updated and has a nice pennywhistle part on it as well as semi military snare drumming.
A Week Without Ears is sort of a Byrdsian folk rocker that's hoping for a quiet life for once. It also has some good freaky guitar breaks.
House Of Hodgman is a song about people having sex in cars instead of checking into the House Of Hodgman, I guess if you're from New England the title may mean more to you than it does to me, either way this is a nicely strummed tale.
Ignorance Is Bliss being a slow blues heartbreaker, for what went on to wreck another relationship, with some good organ fills as everything falls apart.
Fight The Sea opens like it wants to be a Randy Newman piano ballad, as the sad tale at the songs heart unfolds it only re-enforces that, as the woman he is singing about tries to keep her sanity.
The Harvard Line is a hard drinking folk rocker that has a bit of an Irish twang to it as he sings about drinking Barley Wine as he's obviously far too good to be on the Buckfast Tonic.
God Hates Penguins postulates on why God made them live in the cold and ice and such a tough terrain without thinking that they might love the cold like we mainly love the warm, this has a very gentle slightly earnest feel to it.
Dizzy Spells is cocktail bar tales, being sung around a wine bar piano, with the wry drinking advice having the sly humor of Richard Stillgoe or Loudon Wainwright, as he tells her she gives him dizzy spells.
Red Zero is the punkiest thing on the album and is an angry street punk rant against being on minimum wage and never having enough to get by and having to move into a tent, this also has some Brainiac 5 style guitar flourishes, this is songs jumps out and reminds me of a band I saw at T T & The Bears in 1986 who I'd swear were called Lou Miami.
Hey Ruth is a song of love and bitter twisted memories of a friend who went the corporate route and became the opposite of what she once was, this is good and embittered.
French Toast has a slow Zydeco folk feel to it as Jim sings about being on the road and getting home from tour to find some French Toast and bacon on the table to help him feel at home once more.
This gently gives us an insight of what it's like to be a busy local act who plays most of his shows within half a day's drive of home.
The album concludes with Brownie Points, the loosest jammiest song on the album, Recorded live this tries to re-work a Hendrix riff into a rappy type thing, that the cold caller who interrupted my reviewing of it, stayed on the line until the song ended even when turned up.
Find Out More at https://robojackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/retrospective https://www.facebook.com/nhsongwriter
