Charles Burst

Come Home and Feast (2008)

Joe Pelone

While he's logged studio time with the New Pornographers, Crystal Stilts and Black Dice, sound engineer Charles Bursts' first solo album, Come Home and Feast, belongs to a different style and era altogether -- `70s soft rock, or yacht rock. His warm, comforting voice recalls James Taylor; his music Boz Scaggs circa the country of Moments and the disco/soft rock of Silk Degrees. It's by no means bad, but the 10 songs collected are so middle-of-the-road pleasing that it's hard to love or loathe too strongly.

While it shows signs of indie jangle, like on "Girl on the Rocks," the record skews towards unhurried, country-flecked fare, as evidenced on tracks like "Blow the Fire Out" and "House Arrest." It's nice enough, but the record doesn't seem to take off until track seven, "I Came Back for the Children," which isn't a good sign.

"I Came Back for the Children" has an R&B pulse that the rest of Feast could benefit from. Again I invoke Silk Degrees, as this song is danceable disco/country, as contradictory and offensive as that description might sound to punks. Another standout is "The Long Way," a mid-tempo hootenanny.

But these highlights are too few and too late. Come Home and Feast makes for decent background music, but nothing about it if of utmost importance. It's an easygoing package from start to finish, making it a great record to feel indifferent towards.