All Hell

Though the name All Hell implies a raucous soundtrack to a really good barroom brawl, it’s more like a crawl through a nighttime desert, weighed down by a belly full of whiskey and sour beer, along with a crushed soul. If Nick Cave or The National's Matt Berninger hooked up with the ghosts of Ian Curtis and Johnny Cash and watched a 48-hour spaghetti western marathon before going in the studio, All Hell could be the bedeviled result. But it’s actually the debut solo work of one Daughn Gibson, whose time on the road truck driving while listening to dark electronic music like Burial inarguably shaped his musical ID. The title track is a bizarre mash of creeping cello, a vintage cartoon marimba riff, and Gibson’s cavernous baritone, all set to a snapping, spare synthesized backbeat. It paves the way to Daughn’s inarguably strange vision. Yet the opener, “Bad Guys,” suitably points listeners down the dark and brambly path that is All Hell. The weepy, twangy tune reeks of regret, and Gibson’s reverbed vocals exude the sensual allure of Dirty Beaches (as does his use of loops and keyboards). Outstanding.