What I am Listening To- Caleb Landry Jones

I’m so out of the loop on movies that unless it’s Disney, if it has come out in the last ten years, I have no idea. So I really don’t know Caleb Landry Jones except he seems to be a young actor who takes those adventurous roles. Of note, he has released two albums for the excellent Sacred Bones record label, which apparently stems from a recommendation from one of my favorite indie movie directors Jim Jarmusch. The idea reminds me of other esoteric actors and their (usually for completists only) projects- Crispin Glover, Keanu, Depp, Russell Crowe, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson and others. Sonically, it reminds me of when a band member wants to go solo and Beatlesque. Say Dead Kennedy bassist Klaus Flouride, Swell Maps drummer Epic Soundtracks or Fresh and Onlys guitarist Wymond Myles (and dare I even suggest Pavement drummer Gary Young). There are similarities in many of the artists that I mentioned. One is that they seem to gravitate naturally towards Lennon psychedelica with Syd Barrett whimsy and Brian Wilson melody. They also tend to be records are that cult hits - weirdly engaging masterpieces or more often than not -cacophony. So Jones two records including last years Gadzooks Vol 1 are very much in line with a tradition of eccentrics. It’s not that you can’t give it a standard review- critics have compared him to everything from the Vines to Legendary Pink Dots- since you could make comparisons to chameleonic bands like Foxygen, Lemon Twigs and the Allah Las. That said, as one can expect from an album where Jones sings from time to time in falsetto or mock British accent, it’s a love it or hate it affair. It can also (despite Gadzooks short running time) seem repetitive. It’s probably fair to say at times that it moves from Baroque Pop over the line to sheer White Album worship. For me, though, I think I have fallen in love. It doesn’t always make me tingle but at various points (“I Dig Your Dog” off the first album and “California” on the second) really nails it. Now, I don’t expect everyone to have the same reaction, of course, but I also won’t be shocked if you find something here that you like.