ANTENNA SHOES
Generous Gambler

Cutting his teeth as co-leader of Memphis indie-pop outfit Snowglobe, Tim Regan now branches out with Antenna Shoes’ sprawling debut. Regan, who played keyboard on the last Sparklehorse album, undoubtedly knows his way around a song, but Generous Gambler struggles with consistency. Seemingly most comfortable with the kind of rootsy, blues-adjacent groove on horn-heavy opener “Open Arms” and swampy Vietnam allegory “M.I.A.,” the album loses focus when it tries other styles. “Bitches In The City” has a decent-enough swirling vibe, but live drummers mimicking drum ‘n’ bass patterns hasn’t seemed inventive since the alarming rave/jam-band crossover of 2001. Then there’s Regan’s Mark Linkous-inspired side, displayed with the distorted crunch and broken-down waltz outro of “Nonsense” and “Je Te Dis Oualis,” whose lo-fi keyboard carries the album’s best hook. It’s all undeniably well-crafted, but it’s difficult to get a sense of who Regan really is, other than a solid songwriter who could probably rip the roof of a sweaty barroom on any given night. Maybe we’ll find out on his next album. [Shangri-La, www.shangrilaprojects.com]

—Chris Barton