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TELL IT TO THE DUST
(Baryon)
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Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Anders Parker used to lead Americana also-rans Varnaline, who by 2001’s Songs in a Northern Key had pretty much narrowed down to Parker and his songs. Which means that Tell It to the Dust, Parker’s first official solo album, sounds pretty much like Varnaline: twangy, jangly roots pop dominated by Parker’s clenched croon and his sad-eyed hard-luck tales. If you can’t think of a dozen other acts off the top of your head whose music fits that description, you’re not quite the musical encyclopædia you might’ve assumed: this CD is firmly, almost proudly planted in the middle of the alt-country road, accessible enough for genre dabblers to feel they’re getting a fix of authenticity but sturdy enough that veterans won’t think they’re being pandered to. So the revelations — a coruscating harmonica part at the end of "Into the Sun," a tasty sax solo in "Go Alone" — come off like old truths while the old truths — lyrics about "sunbeams or maybe moonbeams" — come off like revelations. But it’s not clear why Parker’s path is worth following. If you want to hear a white guy warble semi-tunefully over leaden piano plonks, why not stick to Wilco? (Anders Parker appears this Sunday, December 19, at T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline Street in Central Square; call 617-492-BEAR.)
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