Jose Gonzalez - Vestiges & Claws

Jose Gonzalez
Vestiges & Claws
2015

Vestiges & Claws  is the first release from Jose Gonzalez in almost 8 years, and this album could have been released a day after his last. Nothing has changed about his music at all, its almost a time capsule into the early days of Indie music where he was a pioneer. Today though it feels dated and one note, there is no build, no peaks just guitar picking and affected lyrics. The album even seems self indulgent in its bare bonesness, it is masquerading as important because it is simple but in reality its just boring. It is difficult to tell one song from another because they all just seem the same.

"Afterglow" is the one song on the record where there is more than just a guitar being played and even then there is one drum and a shaker. For me this album doesn't fit in today's world, it belongs in another time and even then it would be the hipsters of that age would call it groundbreaking. A couple tracks will be going on my Sleep Mix, but feel free to skip this one, you won't be missing much.


4 out of 10 Stars