Australian singer-songwriter Kirin Callinan had already recorded with the
debut album Mercy Arms (2008) of the Mercy Arms, fronted by Thom Moore,
when he ventured solo with
Am I A Woman Yet? (2008) that collects home demos, notably
the demented chant Meoxhwa (halfway between David Peel and Taj Mahal) next to
the free-form instrumental interlude Marty's Theme and
the ugly lament of Mines Tonight.
Callinan then joined the Dreamlanders, formed by singer-songwriter
Jack Ladder (aka Timothy Rogers), playing guitar on
Hurtsville (Spunk, 2011) and Playmates (Self Portrait, 2014).
His second solo album, Embracism (2013), was a more professional
affair but also wildly inconsistent (and damaged by controversial lyrics).
It begins badly with an amateurish imitation of
Nine Inch Nails' industrial rock,
Halo, and it ends
even more poorly, with the failed psychobilly number Love Delay.
But along the way there are moments of genuine intrigue.
Embracism is sung in a Ian Dury-ian howl but arranged like the soundtrack to a sci-fi film.
Come On USA simultaneously spastic and bombastic like a Frank Zappa gag.
Victoria M. exudes Bowie-esque grandiloquence and
the theatrical orchestral ballad Chardonnay Sean belongs to the
tradition of Broadway musicals.
His experimental alter-ego is represented by the frenzied cacophonous
dance-pop of Stretch It Out, while his derivative ego indulges in the
stately country ode Landslide and in cloning
the Sisters Of Mercy in
Way II War.
Callinan comes through as a music-hall artist who can appropriate many different genres for his comedy skits.
Despite absurd lyrics that can be both clownish and offensive,
Bravado (2017)
samples different styles with little or no originality:
My Moment throws in staccato disco-music a` la David Guetta,
while
pop-soul ditties Family Home and Tellin' Me This
evoke a male version of Whitney Huston without the vocal skills.
Big Enough is an odd hybrid mixing pop crooner Alex Cameron, whistler Molly Lewis and rock screamer Jimmy Barnes over an old-fashioned house beat of the 1990s.
The grand ballad S.A.D. is as bombastic as tedious, and
Friend of Lindy Morrison manage to sound even more amateurish.
Bravado resurrects the worst nightmares of moronic synth-pop of the 1980s.
Living Each Day is generic radio-friendly pop-rock with not even a
decent refrain.
Yes, the great James Chance peppers
the grotesque funk mayhem of Down 2 Hang;
but it's way too little to justify this ridiculously derivative and uninspired "music".
Quite simply, Callinan's musical skills are severely limited.
Return To Center (2019) collects 12 covers, notably a wildly emotional
version of the Waterboys' The Whole of the Moon (1985).
