Stupid, stupid name.

That's of course the first thing I thought when I received Lanky's new live EP in the mail: why would an artist do that to himself? I mean, really. It's like naming your kid Clint or something. It just doesn't make sense.

If you can get past the name, you've got some pretty decent singer/songwriter material here. It's a very bare record, a live recording of him and an acoustic guitar, yet it feels quite full; a feat which most solo acts seem to fail to be able to achieve. As a songwriter, Lanky is surprisingly good; though you won't find extremely intricate rhythms, you will find strongly built pop-folk tunes that carry botht he song and your insterest. As a singer, Lanky is oddly addicting, and ends up coming off as somewhat familiar yet sounding original, which is perhaps perplexing but pleasantly surprising. He seems to ditch the off-key ethic of his generation entirely, which is rather nice for a change.

Lyrically, he could use a little work. Though at moments his words are remarkably poignant and driven, at other moments they feel stale, like filler used to complete the song. Still, this doesn't detract from what is essentially a quality live recording of an up and coming indie/folk artist. This is a valiant effort at a live release which is 100% successful, and one can only hope that his sound translates as well into studio recordings.

-Dave Mandell