AN ANGLE - ...AND TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this. Wayne said it was a \"...weird kind of folky,\" which apparently sums me up well enough to warrant it being in my office mailbox with a note that says, \"Review this.\" And with a press release describing the band as \"emo-folk rockers\" (a pox if ever there was one), I felt my desire to hear this wane. But as apprehensive as I was going in, song after song made me a slight believer.
An Angle is not emo, really. Maybe singer/songwriter Kris Anaya’s voice, coupled with his uninhibited lyrical subject matter, confuses layman ears into thinking such a thing. For me, he sounded more like Cracker’s David Lowery, if Cracker took some musical risks and kept their recording sessions loose, layered, and raw.
...And Take It With A Grain Of Salt begins with Anaya singing alone in what sounds like an empty, abandoned house. Then a choir of singers joins him in their muted vocal booth, pouring their hearts out over some droning guitar tones. Then the band kicks in, and you realize you’ve been pleasantly surprised.
And for the entire album’s length, you really don’t know An Angle’s next move. One minute, it’s Anaya and his guitar, bouncily strumming and singing alone (\"Like A Locket, Like A Necklace, Like A Bracelet\"); the next, mandolins, flutes, accordions, and other random instruments weave their way into song after song of musical style after style, all hovering within the realm of folky rock.
...And Take It With A Grain Of Salt is admittedly not something I’d buy without a little nudge of encouragement, but that’s only because my tastes lean heaviest toward hip-hop, punk, or Jamaican music. Having spent a few days with it, though, I’m kinda glad someone placed it in front of me.