The Sunday Show

By Kevin Gibson

The Sunday Show is actually the moniker of Louisville transplant (by way of Chapel Hill, N.C.) of Jacob Sunding, aka "Jake Sunday." Confused yet? Wait until you hear this disc.

Sunday's style, or at least this album, can probably best be described as "esoteric." Or maybe one could narrow it down a bit by calling it "experimental folk-rock." Call it "Bob" if you want, but this 13-track collection pulls from folk, rock, blues and psychedelia. It's like a wicked blend of Bob Dylan and Jethro Tull.

The release follows what Sunday describes as "10 years of plodding, slow-grown musical fermentation," but in truth it sounds improvised at times. Not in a bad way, mind you, but the song structures are often disjointed.

On "Crystalis," an alt-folk song suddenly goes nuts, erupting in a 1970s's classic rock explosion, before falling away into a measured chant and some backward guitar licks.

"Road Song" then comes at the listener with a hint of bluegrass and blues. "In the Cards" is more straight forward folk, speaking to the theme of fate. "Devil's Made of Rust" is one of the more intriguing tracks on the disc, spewing forth a mournful melody while exploring mortality.

All in all, this is an interesting, if uneven, collection of songs. What it lacks in the areas of production and precision it makes up for with an alternative approach to the craft of music. Approach with caution, but by all means approach.

Find out more at myspace.com/thesundayshowband.