Lokomotiv Stockport
My Jangling Heart
Trebletone Records

Frank Pelham has recorded ten songs "about romantic pain and incompetence" it says in the press materials. Pelham's struggled with ill health of both body and soul, but still managed to get these songs done. Musically he draws from a log tradition of English pop music that's influenced so many.

Opener "Strangely Drawn" is sad and somehow Northern as it speaks of the singer's jangling heart. "I Don't Know How To Love Her" anticipates the end of a relationship even as it goes on, and is very Morrissey in its soft yet cutting way. It's not terribly cheerful but it's not overly depressing either. Pelham stays on the right side of cliché for the most part during this album.

"I'm Not Dreaming" is a song that dares to hope a little, even as it admits defeat. "Like a Candle to an Iceberg" intones "I'm Melting Veery Slowly" to a catchy tune. There might be hope, but it wont happen that fast.

Copyright © 2008 Anna Maria Stjärnell