Gary Jules: Trading Snakeoil For Wolftickets : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Gary Jules' Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets is at once beautiful and haunting, depressing and inspiring, lonely and welcoming -- delicately crafted folk music of the highest order. The Los Angeles songwriter polishes his acoustic splendor with Simon and Garfunkel harmonies, Nick Drake guitar-picking and a Cat Stevens whisper. Add Jules' sad and strange lyrics and a quiet masterpiece emerges. On the bitter, mandolin-driven "The Princess of Hollywood Way," the album climaxes with its oddest and most poignant lyric, "You're just a single-malt swamp clown, preparing for splash down/The accidents know you by name, after all I'm the princess of Hollywood." Trading Snakeoil for Wolftickets stands as a lesson in tasteful production -- co-produced by Jules and Michael Andrews -- as backing vocals, drums and guitars all clock in to captivate at just the right moment. With lingering melodies, gentle harmonies and a charged spirit, these eleven songs are gut-wrenching and addictive and reveal an important new songwriting talent.

BENJAMIN FRIEDLAND
(RS 915 - February 6, 2003)