Sean McArdle

POSTED AT: http://wildysworld.blogspot.com/2009/02/review-sean-mcardle-northern-charms.html

Sean McArdle has come a long way, both physically and musically, to release his latest effort, the self-released Northern Charms. The former front man of Driving By Braille and Lookout! Records recording artists The Cost, McArdle left his home base in San Francisco to resettle in Washington, D.C. Embracing the universal themes of love and loss, McArdle has crafted a nuanced and elegant collection of songs that walk the ever receding line between Rock and Americana.

Last Words opens on a gritty, subdued note. McArdle's voice plays perfectly here in an unaffected performance that is plainspoken and earthy. Two Brothers comes out in a finger-pick style that bespeaks of a classic 1960's folk/rock style. McArdle invokes sonic images of Nick Drake here, and this may be the best composition on the album. It's a song you could hear other artists picking up and running with. 56th Street reminded me strongly of the songwriting style of Dave Matheson (formerly of Moxy Fruvous). This is classic 1970's AM Radio folk/rock, as if Dan Fogelberg wrote music for Drake or Tom Waits. Other tracks worth noting include The Long Walk, Still Working, the Hank Williams-esque Don't Believe Me and Follow In Kind.

McArdle appears to have undergone a transformation since his Lookout! Records days. Whether the time with Driving By Braille saw many changes or whether it was the cross country move and starting over in a new place, McArdle has found the clarity of introspection on Northern Charms. The lyrical work here is intelligent and coherent. No one is going to mistake McArdle for a poet laureate, but the material is broken down into honest and forthright passages full of truth, observation and emotion. The musical arrangements in general are Americana gothic representations of mood or place full of subtlety and grace. They neither stand out nor fall behind, but act as the perfect counterparts to his lyrical forays. The result is a solid record from start to finish. Northern Charms is not generally the kind of record that will live in your CD/MP3 player constantly for the first few weeks you own it, but it's the sort of album that will become a regular listen for a long time to come.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Sean McArdles at http://www.seanmcardle.com/ or www.myspace.com/seanmcardle. Sean McArdle's music can be heard in rotation in Starbucks stores on PlayNetwork. Northern Charms will be released in the coming weeks. Keep checking McArdle’s web page for availability! - Wildy's World

In the past, we’ve gotten a track or two from local singer songwriter Sean McArdle, but never a full-length CD. We have one now and it was worth the wait. Charming guitar-driven folk pop, haunting at times, this effort lies somewhere between early Paul Simon and Elliot Smith. Opening track "Last Words" is a highlight, as is the dreamy "56th Street." Definitely worth picking up at the CD release show March 1. - On Tap Magazine

Sean McArdle is soft spoken. He confesses as much on his debut LP, Northern Charms, a stripped-down, introspective reincarnation of his former work as frontman of “improvised bedroom rock” project Driving By Braille and Lookout! Records’ The Cost. McArdle seems to have thrown away everything but his lo-fi voice after moving from the West Coast to Washington, D.C. to go solo.

Instead of post-hardcore angsty guitars, McArdle offers a mature, muted version of himself—sometimes to an extreme—in honest Americana and gothic folk. Northern Charms combines classic ’70s folk with Nick Drake atmospherics, plainspoken poetry, and Hank Williams-style finger picking. The result is 10 cohesive tracks that don’t waver in tone, energy, or landscape. Opening with “Last Words,” a grimy, lyrical ballad about average carpenters building an ark in their yard, the album features haunting, elegant moments such as delicate guitar picking paired with throaty vocals in “Follow In Kind” and eerily thin harmonies on “Joy.”

Even if it’s not quite clear what "northern charms" encompass, McArdle suggests that they’re not far off from the Southern iteration: lo-fi, whiskey and gin, last cigarettes, and a brooding wallflower that you wish would speak up once in awhile. - DC Decider (Onion online)

"Sean McArdle makes folky, gentle music so queer and quirky it can only be labeled 'indie.'" - Washington Post

...swoons and soothes and pulls you into a trance... - Clevelandzine.com

teeped in yearning and romantic nostalgia, “56th St.” has the ammunition to be a major heartbreaker, but McArdle (a former Washington City Paper staffer) defuses the drama with a few doses of self-effacing humor. “We walked out under a winter moon/My friends snort Ritalin in your bedroom,” he sings, fondly recalling those smellier, punkier days when one man’s ADD medication could be easily turned into an evening’s entertainment.The instrumentation—layers of twinkling finger-style guitars and soft piano melodies—also prevents the song from strolling into downer-ville. It’s eloquent and wistful but low on out-and-out suffering. - Washington City Paper

DC songwriter, freed from the post-punk straightjacket, produces a quiet monster of a single. The A side combines drone organ with neo-countryoid guitar and plaintive vocals into something reminiscent of Yo La Tengo at their least emblematic. The flip is an instrumental in the Renbourn tradition. - Wire Magazine