The Honorary Title

Fronted by Jarrod Gorbel, the Honorary Title take cues from Dashboard Confessional's acoustic approach and Wilco's darker moments that result in an all new folk-rock-inflected strain of the emo virus. Breathy vocals and an acoustic guitar are Gorbel's mainstays on this impressive, self-titled entry, and if his lyrics appear ridiculously bleak at times, a welcome wryness occasionally crops up on this six-song EP. "Everything I Once Had," for instance, about a sad sack who gets dumped on the subway on Valentine's Day, is equally jarring and charismatic. Elsewhere, a piano fleshes out "Frame by Frame," a vehicle for the New York City-based musician's stark observations about life's mundane rituals. If "Dilute" finds Gorbel at his most despondent, things aren't always so dire, as the damn near optimistic "The Faint and Precious Sound" thrives on a countrified shuffle that keeps things from getting too redundant. If a well-received tour with the aforementioned Dashboard saw Gorbel's star on the rise in 2003, the songs on The Honorary Title have cemented him as one to follow closely. ~ John D. Luerssen, Rovi