Some People I Know

It should perhaps come as no surprise that Brooklyn-based identical twins Adam and David Moss, who both have their own musical careers outside of this incarnation, should demonstrate the most heavenly of vocal harmonies on their first full-length album, recorded at Mark Ettinger's Lethe Lounge in New York City with producer Robin Macmillan and engineer Jefferson Hamer. In several places, as on ‘Frankie’, their lament for the incessant commercialisation and yuppification of so many areas of New York, they can sound unnervingly like Simon & Garfunkel, and elsewhere they lean towards the darker, moody elements of Appalachian folk and bluegrass traditions. While opener ‘Mary Ann’, a poignant and reflective song gently offering shelter from the quiet storm of depression, is memorable and actually rather lovely, by the time we reach ‘In the Nighttime’ halfway through the dozen tracks it's something of a relief to hear some yodelling and relatively frenzied fiddle playing to break up the relentlessly sombre feel of proceedings. That returns, however, until the end of an album that's impressive in so many ways but which could really have benefitted from even the tiniest splash of levity here and there.