I'd Rather Be Wine Drunk

Yes, it's true, from the band name and album title, which are both teetering on the brink between "pretentious" and "meaningless," this sounds like it's yet another annoying artsy emo record. As it happens, it's artsy, yeah, and it has its emo elements, but it's surprisingly non-annoying. The City on Film is singer/songwriter Bob Nanna, formerly of emo superstars Braid and more recently of the poppier Hey Mercedes, alone in a Salt Lake City motel room with a guitar, a four-track, and an afternoon to kill. Supposedly entirely written and recorded over the course of a few hours, I'd Rather Be Wine Drunk isn't the aimless noodling and half-baked songwriting one might expect from the circumstances, but a monochromatic yet intriguing collection of songs that sound complete in themselves. Songs like "How a Helicopter Sounds" don't sound like rough demos, but like fully formed tunes that benefit from their stripped-down presentation. It's not Pink Moon by a long shot, but fans of Nanna's other bands will enjoy it.