With a British accent that falls somewhere between Bowie and Bauhaus, Zincs leader Jim Elkington might sound like an odd fit on Chicago’s Thrill Jockey, where guest musicians for the follow-up to his one-man-band debut Moth And Marriage include labelmate Janet Bean (Freakwater, Eleventh Dream Day) on vocal harmony and Susan Voelz (Alejandro Escovedo, Poi Dog Pondering) on violin. The dark drone of the opening, cheerily-titled “Breathe The Disease” reinforces the dislocation of time and place, conjuring memories of Station To Station Berlin.
Yet as the song cycle proceeds, it’s plain that the Zincs have more to offer than doom-and-gloom nostalgia for the time-warped cosmopolitan. With a wit that extends from his literate lyrics to his mannered vocals, Elkington’s deadpan drollery avoids ponderous self-importance. If there’s a joke within the sonic sweep of a Mellotron, the musical claustrophobia of “Stay In Your Homes” (“you’re all you own”) and the melancholy sigh of “Passengers”, Elkington’s plainly in on it.
The arrangements are as spare as the songs are smart, with electronic effects at the start of the album giving way to a folkier simplicity by the end. The uptempo “Beautiful Lawyers” and “Moment Is Now!” (with the explanation point letting you know he means it, man) provide a change of pace from the studied ennui that predominates, while “New Thought”, with Bean on harmonies, twists irony from the adage: “Life, life is long/What doesn’t kill me only makes my life longer.”