A two volume thirty song set of songs is not something anyone needs to unleash unless they have many many fans. Maybe Austin Leonard Jones has fans where he lives but on Spotify I’m guessing this is just going to come off as overwhelming like it did to me when I was assigned to review it. Musically it’s pretty great as it hits on influences like Beck’s “One Foot In The Grave” mixed with something like a toned down, mellowed out Jay Reatard. However if you are going to ask people to listen to 30 songs I’m not sure that the lo-fi sound keeps it’s charm past the first dozen tracks. At moments you can hear Wilco and other great influences and solid musicianship. Luckily most of the songs are brief and don’t overstay their welcome as they get right to the point. Honestly there isn’t a bad song on this collection but even if this was a collection of Brian Wilson songs at some point you just get fatigued hearing the same vibe and tonal qualities non-stop for 30 songs. A shorter release of the best 10 might have greater impact but I understand how artists think and often they just want it all out there on the table and to let the fans to decide for themselves what is the better songs instead of telling them by editing a track listing down. I get wanting to do a Retrospective but usually it’s a cherry picked selection of the artist's best work over a decade period or more and it’s much shorter than this. My two cents is I’d love to hear a studio album of the best 10 of these but I get it, that’s not what this Jones is going for. I think it has an audience that will enjoy this but if trying to appeal to the masses, please please please “Less Is More”.
- Sam Lowry