Album review: Pokey LaFarge, Pokey LaFarge (Third Man)

Pokey LaFarge is a throwback Americana crooner, somewhat akin to a sprightlier Leon Redbone. The vibe on this debut for Jack White's Third Man label is pre-rock'n'roll. But if his style is retro, his concerns are contemporary, from the complaints about doctors' fees in “Close the Door” to the anxieties over the way a heatwave drives city folk criminally mad in “City Summer Blues”. But LaFarge can see both sides of an issue, exemplified in his contradictory attitudes to work and unemployment in the diligent “Day After Day” and the lazy charm of “Let's Get Lost”.

Download: Central Time; Close the Door; Let's Get Lost