Ex Tempore

There are so many things about Johnny Irion — his voice, his songs, and his choice of arrangements — that match up to the early to-mid-'70s. His high, thin vocals come across like an early, unreleased album by Neil Young on Ex Tempore, and the song structures often reach back to the classic rock template. So when the harmonica squeals out in front of an acoustic guitar at the beginning of "She Cast Fire," or a string arrangement is embedded into "Roman Candle," it's easy for the listener to hear an echo of Harvest or After the Gold Rush. Having said this, Irion's sensibilities are as odd — though in a different sense — as Young's, making Ex Tempore distinctly eccentric country-folk. An example of his left-of-center sensibility is "Brush Yer Teeth Blues," a song that manages to come across as a gentle lullaby despite its oddness. One of the best qualities about songs like "Eyes Like a Levee" and "Short Leash" is how tuneful they are, how easy to catch onto, even on first listen. Ex Tempore is an easy album to like, as was 2001's Unity Lodge, and its off-the-cuff quality (which the title seems to imply) gives it an air of authenticity lacking in so much grittier alternative country. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi