In The Time Of The Great Remembering

Ben Caplan's 2011 debut album is a mish-mash of many styles, all of which would find their home in roadhouses and smoking dens. The album's predominate vibe is bluesy shanties, with Caplan's deep growl reverberating like a hybrid of Eddie Vedder and the throaty rasp of Tom Waits. His band, The Casual Smokers find themselves accompany a variety of traditional instruments veering between jugband and gypsy punk. The odd flash of far-eastern exoticism can be heard in the likes of the stomping Conduit, but the overall effect is like a group of hillbillies have infiltrated a Brechtian cabaret. This collection of songs is pleasingly ramshackle, as unkempt as Caplan's picture on the sleeve.