CD Review

Thomas Bartlett, a founding member of Assembly and occasional member of Chocolate Genius’ and Mike Doughty’s bands, is one of the skinny, oh-so sensitive guys the jocks just love to pick on and whose heart breaks every time he sees a beautiful girl. You almost want to shake him to the point his eyes start to roll inside their sockets and scream in his ear, “Toughen up, pansy!” His refusal to submit and remain lovelorn over his crush of the week provides the emotion basis for his newest band Doveman and their debut album The Acrobat.

With his whispery vocals that a pin drop would overpower and a Dylan-inspired metaphor for every situation, Bartlett, who is the primary songwriter, spins ten tales of solitude and hopelessness in the big city that Nick Drake or Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam would be proud to have inspired. Sullen, temperamental, and improvisational, The Acrobat tries an approach most slow-core albums don’t: variety. Styles and tempos change from mid-tempo jazz to banjo-strumming alt-country that drags like molasses with techno tinges and stunning instrumentation that never leaves a bad aftertaste. The consistent melancholy causes the casual listener to mistake the disc for mere background noise, but it’s the details that make Bartlett and The Acrobat more than just a New York City wallflower.

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