First Look: Robert Gomez – “Pine Sticks & Phosphorous”

Robert GomezDenton, Texas songwriter Robert Gomez’s latest album, Pine Sticks & Phosphorus, isn’t quite the stuff of summer jams — a restrained, gentle folk collection, it’s unlikely to unseat, say, Jay-Z’s “DOA” from your party playlist. But luckily Gomez’s latest is an album for all seasons, a carefully arranged set that recalls pop dabbler Jim O’Rourke’s more pastoral moments. Tracks such as “On This Day,” with Gomez’s hushed, measured vocal cadence and its interlocking guitar arpeggiations, could share space with the former Wilco producer’s “Memory Lame” or even Michigan-era Sufjan Stevens. Pine Sticks doesn’t have quite the immediate classic-making charisma of those predecessors, but Gomez’s music is built to last.

Robert Gomez – “On This Day”: mp3
Robert Gomez – “Middle Of Nowhere”: mp3

(Pine Sticks & Phosphorus is out now on Nova Posta Vinyl; he plays the Knitting Factory on July 18)

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