Quinn, Teddy – “1.11”

Eddie Tower   2/16/2022   A Library

Combine the sounds of Elliott Smith, Bobb Trimble and Sea Wolf, add a hint of John Lennon, and you’ll have a good sense of the sound and feel of Teddy Quinn’s album “1.11”. It’s a beautiful, gentle and melodic collection of 12 of his songs sung and played by him, and augmented by a few fellow musicians. The delicate vocals and light instrumentation are in near-perfect balance, and the album is superbly produced. It is, without a doubt, thoroughly enjoyable and a surprise treat.

The first three tracks provide a strong opener to the album; they are melodic and instantly accessible. The next several tracks are slightly less accessible, but definitely continue the feel, and rapidly improve in musical enjoyment with each listen. The next to last track has a speaking vocal, yet maintains the album’s feel and continuity. The closing track is instantly likeable, and rounds out the album nicely.

All the songs are short, in fact too short in this reviewer’s opinion. One puzzle is that the album cover lists tracks 1 through 13, except for 10, for a total of 12 tracks, which is correct. Another puzzle: See if you can you can hear the brief and nearly identical tonal sequence that appears in an old classic Elvis Costello song.

Songwriter/singer/musician Teddy Quinn issued this album in 2016, and has about a dozen more available on Bandcamp. He is a long term resident of the Joshua Tree area and continues to be active in the music scene there.