The Ox and The Rainbow

At first listen to his sophomore full-length, "The Ox and the Rainbow," it may seem that Dave Fischoff has more in common with New Zealand's finest hard-to-peg songwriters -- brothers Peter and Graeme Jefferies (and their This Kind Of Punishment and Cakekitchen projects), Alastair Galbraith, and the godfather of bruised soul, Pip Proud -- then any of his American brethren. Perhaps it's the insular loner vibe that radiates from the songs -- the overlapped vocals, the self-sequenced drum beats, and background tape accompaniment. Or maybe it's just the way his voice hits the air like hot caramel in a vat of milk. Yes, his vocal delivery is quite kiwi. But on "The Ox and The Rainbow," the signature New Zealander tape hiss, which was ever-present on Fischoff's debut "Winston Park," is missing, along with the Xpressway air of deep alienation. Instead, these eight new songs are sober realist portraits that rarely delve into the first person, but rather stake a significantly distant perspective.