Circular Sounds : Kelley Stoltz : Review : Rolling Stone

Some musicians bury their influences. Not Kelley Stoltz. The centerpiece of his fourth LP is a trio of songs that all sound lifted from some alternate-selection Japanese import of The Kink Kronikles. "To Speak to the Girl" nails Ray Davies wry-wistful vocal style over a vintage blues-revival groove. "When You Forget" is a classically Kinks-ian harpsichord-rock reverie. And "Put My Troubles to Sleep" caps lovelorn rhymes — "Try counting sheep," "Let the darkness creep," "Collapse in a heap" — with a string of Wurlitzer-jukebox-worthy "ba-ba-ba-ba's." The care with which this home-recording scientist has re-created the Sixties British-rock vibe (there's Beatles and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd in here too) would be so much necrophilia if the emotions didn't sound so fresh: Check out the line about rolling over to the empty side of the bed where a lover once slept. Sure, it might be nice if Stoltz could innovate more with his influences, like the Pet Sounds impressionism of Panda Bear's Person Pitch. But flashbacks this vivid are good enough for now.