Slim Pickins

By Lizz Kannenberg on May 28, 2008 5:30PM

We'll admit to intrigue when Langhorne Slim’s self-titled debut for hot shit indie Kemado Records landed on our desk a few weeks back. There's the curious, instant ambiguity (Is it a man? Is it a band?) and we'd heard rumblings about mature, dirty, country-tinged rock with a stellar backing band, so Langhorne Slim went straight to the top of our pile.

Turns out ‘Langhorne Slim’ is the adopted moniker of one Sean Scolnick, a 27-year-old lifelong musician from - yep - Langhorne, PA. After cutting his teeth touring with the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Slim assembled his band, The War Eagles, and put out an EP on V2 before that label folded. Fast forward to the recording and release of this eponymous full-length, and you have 13 incredibly smart, well-written and well-played songs chronicling that perilous bridge to adulthood we call “the mid-twenties.” Slim’s often ragged vocals are endearing and authentic, reminding the listener of just how confusing it is to navigate the waters of love, life’s purpose, friendships, spirituality, and personal relationships…when you’re not quite all grown up. Oh yeah, and he does it all with a band that sounds as devoted to the roots of rocknroll as another young band called the Rolling Stones were more than forty years ago.

Bottom line: you've got two chances to give Langhorne Slim your deserved attention this week, and we suggest you take 'em. You’ll find a charged, tight, bluesy folk-rock band on the surface, but with an undercurrent of poignant, thoughtful, lasting work from an artist with a lifetime of material buried in his young chest.

MP3: Langhorne Slim - Rebel Side of Heaven

Langhorne Slim plays Schubas tonight, 9:00 p.m., $10 and the Hideout tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m., $10

Photo from the band's Myspace page