Swapping The Weird For The Mesmerising
James Jackson Toth is a man who goes by many names, names to match his many different musical faces and yet they all have one thing distinctly in common; their ability to make you take notice of a man whom many deem to be a shining light in the underground scene. Most readily associated with The Vanishing Voices, Toth has been pegged as a somewhat eccentric figure, someone who crafts weirdly fascinating mind warps of psychedelica that capture your imagine with their spellbinding magic. Having gained such acclaim in this area it came a quite a shock to many when Toth first started work on the stripped down Wooden Wand solo projects and needless to say there were some worried and inevitably sceptical people at his label when he announced that 'James And The Quiet' was going to take his minimalist venturing a few steps further in order make what he claimed to be "an un-weird record" and 'James And The Quiet' is certainly that. Gone are the psychedelic mind games and in comes the country hued rasps of a man pouring his out and soul into a folksy album that shows more of Toth's personality than ever before and whilst he may have established his name for his unconventional veering, it is with this album that Toth truly steps into the light.
Darker than any of Toth's earlier outings, 'James And The Quiet' opens proceedings with the blues romp of 'The Pushers', a lively folk honed number that briskly sets the tone of Toth's moniker Wooden Wand. But all is not essentially what it seems as darkness lurks beneath the brisk beats and Toth's usual use of obscure lyrics raises its head to insure that you still have to think about this man's work. Often verging towards Dylanesue obscurity, Toth's lyrics are as thought provoking as they are beautiful, playing devil's advocate at times as the whiskey soaked rasp of Toth's vocals croon around each track. 'The Invisible Children' unmasks Toth's oblique lyrics further with lines about mutants and monsters converging at the mausoleum painting a picture that is at times clear and yet strange and weird.
'James And The Quiet' takes Toth's outing as Wooden Wand one step further however through his choice of musician's who accompany him, most notably when Jessica Toth lends her vocals, contrasting mesmerising with Toth's own rasping gruffness. 'We Must Love The Thieves' is as a close to a lullaby as any blue roots country track can be whilst 'Blessed Damnation' is a menacingly dark affair that condemns with its mournfully sombre lyrics, make all the more realistic through Toth's brash vocals and the simplicity of a single acoustic guitar.
Although Toth has packed away his so called weirdness for his outing as Wooden Wand he has managed to retain his musical creativity and as such still stands out from the crowd. Sadly if rumours are to be believed this will signal his last outing as Wooden Wand and as such it seems it will be business as usual for the man with the many musical faces from now on. Shame as it seems Wooden Wand was finally getting to the root of who the real Toth truly is.