Jim White – Transnormal Skiperoo

The music of Jim White has, in some way, illustrated a peak into the quirky, spiritual, and the none-too-familiar parts of Americana in the rural south. On Transnormal Skiperoo he has put together an album of delta blues, roots rock, and (not quite) alt. country that is eclectic as the individual stories hatched from each song. White’s calling card of honest observations of life as it was, or could be, offer insight and amusement that serve as moral time capsules as he marries acerbic wit to classic narratives about faith and normal folk (“Seems like the more that you lose/the more you ache to find…” on “A Town Called Amen”).

Surrounded by a series of collaborators, he’s found the best blend of a band since 1997’s Wrong Eyed Jesus! Through programming, wispy percussion, and pedal steel there is a delicacy and uplifting sparseness that plants the listener right down in the Mississippi Valley. Yet, his “spiritual gurudom” extends far past the rail way tracks; much like David Byrne, who has hosted White on his Luaka Bop label since his debut.

Most of the tracks have a calm musical drawl that allows White’s acid lyrics to calmly resonate; evident on the sobering “Jailbird” and the lamentable pipe dreams of “Plywood Superman.” However there are a few tunes that’ll keep your toe tapping. Specifically the stand out “Crash into the Sun,” accentuated with horns and hand claps, as well as the simple and straightforward “Turquoise House.” Above all, the most surprising thing about Transnormal Skiperoo may be how abnormally normal it seems. Jim White may be bridging the more esoteric jabs of reason that made his earlier works so vivid and interesting, but after a listen you’ll come to find he still just makes enough sense for you to want to play it again.

Aaron Simms

www.jimwhite.net