The odds ‘n’ sods of “Travelingâ€
These eleven tracks, available for download via the Internet or on CD at Poltz’s shows, are the quirkier flipside of Poltz’s recent album Traveling. It’s as though the singer-songwriter worked through darker emotions with therepeutic expression and broadened soundscapes on his way to the more conventional sounds offered on Traveling. This set a mixed bag rather than a polished album, veering from the King Kong stomp of the opener’s horrified look at war to the psychotically genteel kidnapping and murder of “Tied Down.†There are Pogues-like waltzes of rough characters, discordant string-lined confessions, celebratory ditties, impressionistic lullabies and dreamscapes, contented love songs, human travelogues, and an ornate search for forgiveness, “Once Again,†that’s the album’s most traditional tune. Poltz’s fans will enjoy this unfiltered peek into the loose ends of the artist’s imagination, but those new to the catalog should start with the more evenly tempered Traveling. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com] 