David Karsten Daniels - Sharp Teeth
[FatCat]

In today's music scene, there is not much call for any more singer-songwriters, it's all been done before, in every guise, in every style, with every vocal variation thinkable.

David Karsten Daniels does not offer up anything new and his work is not a particularly comforting listen, with dark religious themes, death and loss proliferate throughout the 12 tracks. But somehow, beneath the doom and gloom, he manages to avoid being depressive, sneaking in beatific images of childhood nostalgia.

Sharp Teeth opens with 'The Dream Before the Ring That Woke Me', a track seeped in empty hopes, before 'Scripts' sinks into a melancholy despair, only to open up a golden tinged brass section, with floating percussion and piano.

'American Pastime' recalls many others, a kind of Shins sings Modest Mouse. His take on American alt-indie pop is lovely, but that's as far as it goes, starkly contrasted with the beatific and melancholic moan of 'Minnows', which shows that Daniels should stick to the downbeat.

Sharp Teeth passes over like a pleasant rainstorm, soaking you and breaking as quickly as the downpour started. The fuller arrangements are just as successful as the stripped down ones, but only reveal their full worth after very persistent listening.

Sharp Teeth Track Listing:

01. The Dream Before The Ring That Woke Me
02. Scripts
03. American Pastime
04. Jesus And The Devil
05. Sharp Teeth I
06. Minnows
07. Universe Of No Parts
08. Beast
09. Sharp Teeth II
10. We Go Right On