Soft Connections LP

Nic Hessler ditched the alias Catwalk for his own name on this Captured Tracks debut, which is either a vote of confidence or an admission he'd run out of places to hide. The twelve songs split the difference between American power pop, think Emitt Rhodes and Alex Chilton, and British melodic rock in the Kinks and XTC mold. Whatever the reasoning, dropping the mask suits him: this is his most direct and personal work yet.