Untended Stories

Although Martin Finke’s fourth album proper is called Untended Stories, a more apt title might have been Bar-tended Stories. A graduate of the Oldham-Eitzel school of maudlin singing/songwriting, at least half of the twelve songs here mention bacchanalian excess of some form or other. It’s hardly surprising. Born in Germany, Finke moved to Clifden’s “burly coast” at the age of four, spending his formative years in a bilingual house on the bog and presumably boozing his way through the harsh Connemara winters. Later he emigrated to Boston, another hard-drinking Irish town.

Both locations – or public houses within – backdrop many of these songs. In ‘Lament For A Locksmith’ he sings, “There’s a house in old Clifden/Where I’ve spent many nights/And the men there are wise men.” He sums up the typical Irish immigrant experience hilariously on ‘US Coast’ – “Who wants to see the US coast/From the inside of a pub?/I do.” They’re not all boozy, barstool ballads but, relatively upbeat album opener ‘Weight Of Mountains’ aside, there’s nothing that would tempt you onto a dance floor.

Finke plays most of the instruments himself (guitar, keyboards and accordion), though the Redneck Manifesto’s Richie Egan and the Dudley Corporation’s Joss Moorkens contribute bass and drums respectively.

If Finke is looking for commercial success – though I suspect he’s not overly worried – he needs to learn a little more about hooks and melodies. I’ve listened to it about five times for the purposes of this review, and nothing has fully taken hold.

Thus Untended Stories is a worthy, well-crafted work of art from a seriously gifted and poetic songwriter. But poptastic it ain’t.