TK Webb

At certain points, TK Webb's dynamic guitarwork resembles his labelmates Vietnam — but the similarities are purely superficial. While that band revels in its toe-the-sonic-line identity, TK's Phantom Parade reads like an Appalachian travelogue, a candid, muddy-knee'd collection of tales Webb must've spun on the lam. The well-intentioned "Which Witch" sprouts up amidst stammering floor toms and bright steel-body bravado. "Which witch will rise from the west to watch the mere mortals do their best?" offers the gravelly-throated Webb, whose every murmur douses the implied front row with implied cheap whiskey. "Wet Eyed Morn" is a balladeer's master class with a short supply list: one rattling acoustic, one recessive harmonica. "Classy" comes off like a strong-as-fuck cup of truck stop coffee, spiked with grumbling vocals and unshaven low-fret machinations. The title track, where Webb's six-strung better half is accompanied by a jolly, half-flubbed piano part, is more than incandescent. Quite simply: he don't sound like Vietnam. Dudes sound like him.

by Drew Lazor

TK Webb on:
Myspace
The Social Registry