“Ten Out of Nine” is a simple little love song.
Over finger-style guitar and straightforward honky-tonk bass, Jack Studer sings an unhurried ode to his other half. The tune is a bit naive–she’s right most of the time, he says; if they fight, it’s his fault, he says–but in an endearing way. Studer is simultaneously singing about a youthfully idealized relationship and about his real one, which sees him doing shows and sleeping in his van for weeks at a time. They’re passionate and dedicated to each other anyway.
“If not for you, I’d sure be dead,” he sings. “I’m lucky just to be your man.”
Studer’s new LP Falling Forward is defined by shambling Americana, a sort of joy-forward folk-rock fueled by the countercultural bliss of crunchy ex-punks. What’s wild about Studer–and fellow Gar Hole Records artists like Nick Shoulders and Chris Acker–is that his music creates a sense of time to kill, of nowhere to be. As such, albums like Falling Forward are especially refreshing in this era of frantic chaos.
