Joe Kaplow - Time Spent In Between
Indie-folk singer-songwriter Joe Kaplow recently dropped his debut LP, entitled Time Spent In Between, a collection of songs covering an array of topics, such as the nomadic life of touring, isolation, loneliness, depression, mortality, and the contradictions he’s discovered in the term ‘home.’
Joe Kaplow
Originally from New Jersey, Kaplow moved to Santa Cruz, California, where he lives in a four-acre mansion in the foothills. Living with him in the worse-for-wear manor are an assortment of hippies, and a selection of rodents. There’s a swimming pool, too.
The mansion serves as a kind of ad hoc recording studio and rehearsal space. Kaplow resides there when not off on protracted tours with his band.
Enveloping 12-tracks, the album opens with “Corncob Pipe,” riding a low-slung but potent slightly country-flavored indie-folk tune full of SoCal soft rock savors. A measured rhythm travels on a plump resonant bass line and crunching drums. Kaplow’s tones, rasping with a scrumptious nasality, deliver melancholic tones.
Because of its smoldering wicked sensuous flow, this is my favorite track on the album.
Showcase tracks include “Dusk Rattler,” a blues-flavored tune with a deliciously oozing trumpet and radiant, gospel-laced background harmonies, as well as tangs of burlesque caresses. The solo section is composed of a snarling, compact guitar topped by the drawling trumpet. Because of its smoldering wicked sensuous flow, this is my favorite track on the album.
“Allison” opens on an elegant acoustic guitar flowing into a tasty rhythm supporting a smooth, gently shimmering melody. Trembling synth tones imbue the tune with skintight accents. I love the lyrics: “Allison you got me running circles again / I try to bring you back to earth again, my friend.” A sinuous guitar closes the song out, reminding listeners of The Allman Brothers.
“Rhythm and Rhyme” is the kind of song Johnny Cash or Neil Young would write, riding an austere melody with an infectious harmonic flow and cashmere surfaces. “Don’t Try To Stay” delivers rock-a-billie flavors blended with hoe-down relish.
Time Spent In Between offers stellar indie-folk tunes, splendidly put together, brimming with yummy melodies and the fetching voice of Joe Kaplow.
