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If you think Tom Waits' singing style is unique, you haven't
heard Seth Augustus sing yet. This nine-track release is packed
with rough-voiced blues, which might well give Waits a run for his
money in the gargling with gravel department.
One imagines there isn't the same huge market for Tom Waits impersonators
as there is for, say, Elvis imitators. Heck, there's even a
skydiving Elvis impersonator troupe! Not that these sound-alike-isms
are intentional; it's just impossible to get away from Augustus' similarity
to Waits.
The track that stands out most on To The Pouring Rain is one
called "Big Cocoon". Its lyric affectionately speaks of
a man wanting to wrap himself around his lover, just like a big cocoon.
The music is a mixture of Mexican acoustic guitar, and jazzy saxophone.
Less successful, however, is something like "Slim Sam",
which leans a little closely to Waits' clanking blues sound. But,
whereas Waits rarely fails to create a certain mood with all his noise,
Augustus merely gets lost in all the noise.
When it comes to artists like Tom Waits and Elvis, it is always best
to insist on the real thing. He may be going down a narrow road, but
Seth Augustus mostly comes off like a pale imitation of you-know-who.
-Dan MacIntosh
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