Jeremy Nail and The Incidents

Back in 2001, I was a huge Ryan Adams fan. He was coming off the previous year's Heartbreaker, a classic disc, and the follow-up Gold was #2 in my year-end list while Whiskeytown's delayed-release swan song, Pneumonia, was right behind at #3. (My #1 was this.)
But I soon became disenchanted with Adams for much the same reason I stopped collecting baseball cards in the early 90s: there were just too many releases to keep track of, the quality went down, and everyone was jumping on the bandwagon. But somewhere in the plethora of unreleased and bootlegged studio discs that accompanied the plethora of official releases was a rock album he cut with his then-backing band The Pinkhearts. That album found him channeling Paul Westerberg circa The 'Mats, and had some quality tracks like "Win" and "Candy Doll" and hinted at a potential path he could have taken.

Which brings us to Jeremy Nail, who with his debut disc Letter may have finally delivered the Adams-Westerberg hybrid disc we've (I've) been waiting for. Reminscent of Adams, he's sometimes billed solo and sometimes with his backing band (The Incidents), and like both of them at their best, he combines rock, pop and Americana with quality songcraft. The driving opener "Paper Doll" is Exhibit A for this premise with its haunting melody and quality guitar work. Elsewhere, "Last Goodbye" conjures some of Adams' best work from Pneumonia-era Whiskeytown with a great midtempo roots melody and female harmonies; "Lucky Girl" is playful pop, something that might sound like Jellyfish if Sturmer et al were more obsessed with Bruce Springsteen and Steve Earle rather than The Beatles and Queen; "Beautiful Storm" brings anthemic BritPop into Nail's roots mix; "Wake Up, Julianne" brings to mind the late period 'Mats of All Shook Down; and "Afterdark" adds a little Neil Finn. And as I'm wont to close my reviews with a bad pun, let me just say that he really Nailed this one.
- Absloute Powerpop

“Veering from jangly to anthemic, Jeremy Nail's debut, Letter, is a diverse, gripping listen, one that's centered around his ability to capture waking moments with intensity. An all-star cast of accompanists, including producer/bassist Mark Addison and drummer Joey Shuffield, assures that Nail's visions take shape with a self-confidence by a local singer-songwriter that hasn't been displayed on a first effort since Jeff Klein.”

—Jim Caliguiri The Austin Chronicle - The Austin Chronicle

Music these days often lacks depth and meaning within lyrics. The songs on Top-40 stations are formulaic with a majority of today’s artists not even writing the music they sing. Nail’s debut album, Letter, appears radio friendly, but lyrically speaking, Letter unlocks Nail’s inner thoughts.

The Texas native possesses vocals reminiscent of Brit-pop/rock vocalists Liam Gallagher (Oasis) and Chris Martin (Coldplay). “Beautiful Storm,” a song evocative of Oasis in the mid-90s, is lyrically and musically the strongest track on the album. Nail channels Gallagher’s emotive voice.

The intro to the track “California” gives off a beach vibe similar to the Phantom Planet song of the same title, popularized by the television show, The O.C. While both tracks evoke a similar musical tone, Nail’s song is not quite as catchy; however, he does make up for it with the fervor that he packs into his lyrics.

The only complaint I have about this album is that it ends. From start to finish, Nail leaves you craving more of his Johnny Rzenick-like guitar playing and soul baring lyrics. Jeremy Nail shows himself to be capable of creating a stellar album.
- Liner Notes Magazine