Donovan Quinn & The 13th Month

Insound Staff Pick - 2008! Donovan's steadily growing reputation as a first rate darkly romantic penman (thanks to contributions to The Skygreen Leopards and solo as Verdure) has culminated with his latest endeavor. Rather than aping or ducking genres, Quinn has crafted a bright spectrum of songs best described as 'American.' Xian folk, languid indie pop, VU cool, loner country and west coast psych are touchstones, with Quinn's singular lyrical abilities and taste for sun-baked song steadily at the fore. Ever the flower bed romantic, Quinn has at the risk of over-simplification - written a classic "break-up record;" albeit filtered through surrealistic tenderness and riddled with red herrings and feelings of betrothal. Though not exactly lost in a sea of scarves, Quinn is indebted to the vulnerability, humor and bitterness present in the works of Ronnie Lane, Skip Spence, Nikki Sudden and Basement Tapes-era Dylan.