The prolific David Nance is back with the infectious David Nance and Mowed Sound. This Third Man Records release finds the Omaha-based musician offering up his fiery takes on the kind of thing that bands like Wilco, to use one example, do so well. That's a lazy point of comparison, but "Mock the Hours", the opener here, kind of hit that same vibe for me.
David Nance favors a direct, uncluttered sound. This is all brightly rendered stuff, without a lot of superfluous fluff. While some material, like "No Taste Tart Enough" has a twang about it, this is hardly very roots-y. Instead, Nance picks and chooses influences, but never strays too far from his punchy path. "Tumbleweed" is, as you can imagine from the title, a bit of the ol' high and lonesome, but it's unaffected and not contrived. There's a bit of the Nebraska spaces in Nance's presentation, yes, but he thankfully is shrewd enough to keep things concise; this album clocks in at under 40 minutes, for instance.
And while "In Orlando" closes things out in heartfelt fashion, most of David Nance and Mowed Sound is a tight recitation of country-tinged rock and roll. There's just a little of that here, but enough to give this all a charm that makes it feel light and smartly rendered. I'm trying to say, I guess, that in other hands this style of tune-age wouldn't necessarily work as well for me. But David Nance is adept, and what's here is briskly presented and deftly performed.
David Nance and Mowed Sound is out this week via Third Man Records.
[Photo: Anne Gustafson]