A Will Oldham lookalike who moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film, and ended up in the service of David Lynch as an au pair nicknamed 'Hairy Poppins'? You'd expect Benjy Ferree to have some interesting stories to tell; yet, if perhaps his lyrics aren't as colourful as his experiences have been, his music more than makes up for it. Leaving the Nest, his 2005-recorded debut, is an amalgam of rumbling garage, airy pop, grainy folk and tousled rock - a heady blend which, when coupled with Ferree's dexterous vocals, makes it easy to see why he was picked up by Domino late last year. Information on Ferree is considerably hard to come by; but what we do know is that the Leaving the Nest was originally a six-track EP that was expanded for an album release, and was mixed by Fugazi's Brendan Canty, whom Ferree met while bartending in his native Washington DC. The front sleeve's Robin Hood-style painting gives nothing away - there are no lutes, lyres or medieval instruments of any sort in earshot, and the closest you'll get to extensive orchestration is the addition of a violin and cello on a couple of tracks. For the most part, though, it's an instantly-likeable album. In the Countryside's childlike, garage-pop bop is rounded by the playful crash of cymbals; Dog Killer's menacing bassline elicits comparisons with the likes of Detroit Cobras or even the Stones, while The Desert's warm country shudder sprawls lazily into M. Ward territory. Vocally, Ferree sounds like anyone from early Ryan Adams to a less-vociferous Jack White to a mumbling Beck, and his throaty drawl spews forth lyrical vignettes such as 'Here comes a big boy, freckles just like mine / Wooly red hair, sticks a spear in my side' (let's hope it's not one of David Lynch's kids he's acknowledging, or he could have a lawsuit on his hands). It's a lyrical couplet that's emblematic of Ferree's output, though: just when you think you've pinned him down to one style, he surprises you by coming out with something considerably different. A carefree, multifarious, and simply quite lovely album.
