No one would ever say Bob Dylan sings pretty. Nor would you say Mike Skinner of The Streets has the best enunciation or grammar. Hell, half of the indie folk I listen to hardly passes as in-tune. So, as you can guess, Tom Williams’ slightly cockney flavored delivery of his anti-folk-rock blend was not a deterrent for me falling for his new ep The Penguin. In fact those two artists mentioned above are not that far removed from the sound Tom gets out of his 6 piece band The Boat. On “Jazz Singer” the harmonica solos remind one of Dylan’s best work, and the clever wordplay of “pretty daughter god I love her, came back last week and saw a neck and back tattoo” is both as modern as Skinner’s and as emotionally bare.
You can hear more songs from the ep on Tom Williams + The Boat’s MySpace page and you really should check them out as the stylistic changes between and among songs is striking (i.e. the punk energy of “Yup” and the gentle but cynical (anti) folk of “Three Thursdays”). Tom’s unsigned in the states, but this new ep is available to pre-order in a limited edition pressing of 100 copies now from the British label Unlabel (here).
Tom Williams (solo) – “You Talk So Loudly On the Phone”