Loch Ness Monster
“Eleven Traditional Songs” (Max Recordings)

In my experience, the albums I end up loving the most usually are not albums I like on first listen. Take “Tallahassee” by the Mountain Goats. It’s an amazing album, a mesmerizing set of story songs that revolves around a drunk couple living in a run down house. I had several friends recommend this to me and on first listen I hated it.

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Why? Lead singer John Darnielle has one of the most grating voices in rock ’n’ roll. He’s whinier than the dude from Death Cab for Cutie and straighter, in his vocal delivery, than Jim Lehrer. But on repeated listens, the quality of Darnielle’s voice moved into the background and suddenly there was a hypnotizing album in my ears.

On first listen to “Eleven Traditional Songs” by Little Rock’s Loch Ness Monster, I was struck by the singer Sulac’s voice. It grates. He sings flat. Plus, he has a strong Southern drawl. But on repeated listens something else started to step forward, and it became clear: “Eleven Traditional Songs” is a twisted, rollicking, hell-ride of a rock record. And I’m starting to wonder if it might not be one of my favorite local records of the year.

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