The Actual Tigers: Gravelled And Green

It's hard to deny that the Seattle folk-rock band The Actual Tigers has a Paul Simon jones. "Yardwork In November," the opening track of Gravelled And Green, mimics the delicate composure and casual grace of a song from Simon's solo debut. The track that follows, "Standing By," is tinged with There Goes Rhymin' Simon-like rockabilly and gospel, as are the gently funky "Bad Day" and "Testimony." (The latter pays near-plagiaristic homage to "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard.") Even Gravelled And Green's fun-fair production touches, courtesy of Camper Van Beethoven producer Dennis Herring, are fairly timid. The West Coast folk-rock scene has been dominated by hurdy-gurdy balladry ever since producer Jon Brion became a guru for mumbly young troubadours a few years ago, but Actual Tigers bandleader Tim Seely doesn't mumble. His melodies and arrangements recall Elliott Smith at times, but his vocals are invariably cleaner, brighter, and decidedly more extroverted. "Bourgeois Blues" is unbearably hammy, and the album-closer, "The One That Got Away," features such a busy mix of piano and howling electric guitar that it essentially collapses halfway through its five-minute running time. But when Seely latches onto an indelible tune, his willingness to bolster it with literal bells and whistles pays off. "End Of May," for example, would wither in the hands of those morose, self-satisfied folksingers who turn away from the audience and sing with their eyes screwed shut, as though their talent were something to be meted out stingily. The Actual Tigers' Paul Simon affinity extends to a taste for showmanship that leads to adding a tuba solo and a steel guitar to "Shades Of Brown," willfully courting a charge of shamelessness.