Search - Craig Ross :: Dead Spy Report

When engaged in casual chit-chat with my musical posse, someone invariably uses "singer-songwriter" to describe some self-important, folked-up, B-grade John Hiatt whose day-to-day tussles with ennui take on Homeric proportions when rendered in song. My usual reaction? Feh. Though not exactly a blazing tower of talent, Craig Ross proves worthy to wear the mantle of something a bit snazzier than your garden-variety troubadour. For one thing, Ross makes no effort to dandify his somewhat limited vocals, which shudder and crack while sifting the wreckage of some personal disaster, as in "Out of Your World," or the T-Rex-like "Mudslide." This is not to say that he isn't capable of evoking some soul: on "Cry" and "I'll Never Burn" his voice takes on that special quiver of one who's itching to bust out in boo-hooery at any second. The music clings to the roof of your brain quite comfortably, with just enough small-studio clutter and sputter to save us from high-gloss sterility. As a singer of songs about love and its disappointments, Craig Ross is a fellow worth lending your ear to. --John Chandler