Coconut Records: Davy

Actors and music careers. There are three reasons why they come about: (1) Money (2) Ego (3) A creative well which needs to be expressed within a spectrum of diverse media types.

There is a simple way to discern musical impetus: simply analyse a sample quote from the person involved. Front-man of Coconut Records Jason Schwartzman had the following to say: "What am I doing? I don't know what I'm doing. I'm doing the best that I can. I know that's all I can ask of myself. Is that good enough? Is my work doing any good? Is anybody paying attention? Is it hopeless to try and change things?"

On the other side of the coin take the example of a Hollywood actress we'll leave unnamed: "Well, I'm not going to be singing about lollipops because I no longer relate to lollipops."

Schwartzman is very much a case of 'diverse media'. While an actor mostly speaks other people's lines, this is his chance to vent his own complex emotional responses via a concoction of intriguing, mysterious and esoteric verse, all set to the most time-honoured of genres by the artistic elite: sweater-tugging indie.

Upon the first encounter, there's an air of vague tangibility about Davy as Schwartzman addresses his thoughts to absent second parties and inanimate objects. Twee with a nascent aura of the sixties invoked via his many and varied eclectic arrangements.

The 'Solomon Grundy' stylings of "Drummer" reveal a rather more fixed influence as the presence of The Monkees makes itself known. Hardly an accident considering the album's title. Like the remainder of the album, a quality of familiarity is possessed without it needing to free-fall to the altitude of a retread.

When the sprightly bop-alongs vacate the building we're left with some of the more attention-arousing numbers. "Any Fun" is an astonishing cascade into a upbeat yet melancholic ballad with melts away the most ardent of defensive shields. In spite of a more melodic nature, the abstract musical explorations are still present as the eclectic tones pepper the mix.

In a similar vein, the reverb and lamentatious tone makes a return for finale and not remotely grammatically correct (much like that preceding sentence) "Is This Sound Okay?" which also sees fit to concern itself with similarly bizarre excursions into nonsensical stanzas.

It is likely no coincidence then that Schwarzman's musical work mirrors that of his film work. Quirky, off-kilter, abstract, enjoyable and complete with an irrefutable intelligence. So much so that just this once we shall forgive him for not featuring a song about Chubba Chups.