Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of February 2nd-8th, 2014:
Rupert Angeleyes - Young Sunset
01. Jealousy
02. Delicate Guy
03. Out Of My Control
04. I Think I'll Have Another
05. I Don't Believe In Love
06. When I Fell In Love
07. Painters Mixing Paint
08. Crying For Who I Could Be
09. I Believe In Love
10. The King Of Dentistry
Rupert Angeleyes, better known (though not for long) as the work of Sleeping In The Aviary's Kyle Sobczak, has been garnering a lot of press lately with this release. After spending a week with Young Sunset two things became very clear. First, the album deserves every bit of praise it's receiving. And two, Kyle Sobczak's got problems.
What's the root of these problems, you may be asking? Well, considering this is an album of pop music, you probably know the answer: Women.
Sobczak's issues, real or fictional, are the backbone of this album. He's gripped with jealousy when seeing his we're-still-friends ex at the bar, jealousy of his friend's girlfriend, defensive of his manhood, annoyed by a significant other's complacency, driven to drinking by domestic squabbles, and, oddly, remorseful at his lack of a dental career. He really runs the gambit. It's appropriate that "I Believe In Love," a song whose title implies a continued hope, is the lone instrumental on the album.
Don't let that last paragraph fool you though. Young Sunset is hardly a downer. On the contrary, Sobczak & company keep the proceedings jaunty & interesting all the way through. This thing is littered with hooks, the production is sparkling, and the performance top notch. Imagine pushing "play" on a Frankie Teardrop album & a Jens Lekman album at the same time and you'll start to understand what Ruper Angeleyes is all about.
Or just wait another month or two because Rupert Angeleyes is going to be inescapable soon. A couple of years ago Sobczak told City Pages that he wanted his next album to be his masterpiece. I don't know if Young Sunset quite gets there, but that's really for Sobczak to decide. The rest of us can just kick back and enjoy.
If you'd like to check the album out for yourself it's out now on the unstoppable Forged Artifacts label and available on Rupert Angeleyes' Bandcamp page as a "Name Your Price" download.
