FARRYL PURKISS: Fruitbats and Crows Special Edition (Sheer Sound)
The default comparison for Farryl Purkiss, much favoured by lazy music journalists, is Jack Johnson. This appears to be largely predicated on Purkiss’s laid-back, laconic delivery, the fact that he comes from a surfing town and shares a penchant for vaguely alluring wispy facial hair.
A more interesting comparison would be John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas, circa solo offering John, the Wolf King of L.A. Purkiss’s songs might be embedded in a folksy acoustic-rock genre, but they stray into the more dynamic area of straight rock every now and then.
That’s musically as well as lyrically. With sidemen of the calibre of Ross Campbell (ex-Fetish) and guitar genius Guy Buttery, the sound at times has a rhythmic urgency that adds interesting dimensions to the beautiful melodies. Lyrically, although Purkiss is precisely as sweetly romantic as you’d expect, there’s the odd moment of darkness and troubled introspection.
As this is a rerelease, there are a bunch of extras. The live version of Purkiss’s Monkey’s Wedding adds fire to the impressionist original, but the cover of Dylan’s Positively 4th St leeches all passion out of the original, replacing it with an anodyne and earnest prettiness that does the song no favours at all. On the whole, though, this is an album that will sit comfortably in that section of your music collection that you savour in times of ease and introspection.