It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Seattle’s Charles Leo Gebhardt IV. Well, that’s not entirely true, as last year we got a debut full length from Unnatural Helpers. But his solo project under his own name has been quiet since the release of Unfaithful, the delightfully raw and fun EP from 2008. Begin Again is the new release and it maintains much of what we heard from that previous EP, albeit with a tiny bit more production.

Listening to Begin Again, I tried to pinpoint exactly what it is I dig about Gebhardt’s music. It’s a tough task, not because I’m stretching to find the answer, but because I don’t want the answer to discredit his music’s greatness. It’s playful and catchy, filled with traits common to pop, folk and maybe even a hint of old-school, early country. It has a nice twang, is a little lo-fi, and has plenty of grit. And there’s more, but I’ll let you discover that yourself.

In Begin Again, we hear Gebhardt’s first take at quieting it down. There are plenty of tracks that match his previous work’s volume and pace, like “Chapel Of Roses” and “Lonely You”, but there are also a few ballad-esque tracks like “Stand By You” and “Tell Her That You Love Her”. Gebhardt also seems to add more back-up vocals, which are quite welcome.

I guess my main point is that Begin Again encompasses all the things I loved about Gebhardt’s first EP, and that makes it a major success in my eyes. I loved that EP and was a bit sad that it was so short, because it was just so damn good. We now have eight more tracks to add to the collection, and there are a few on Begin Again that top the best from Unfaithful. Just listen to “She Won’t Be Far” and “Chardonnay”.

Begin Again just arrived via ggnzla records.

Download: “Chapel Of Roses” by Charles Leo Gebhardt IV

ggnzla records [2011]

1. Chapel Of Roses
2. She Won’t Be Far
3. Teach My Heart
4. Stand Behind You
5. Good Things
6. Chardonnay
7. Lonely You
8. Tell Her That You Love Her

Earlier today (which, if you’re reading this on the day it was published, was actually yesterday), I cranked up Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea for the first time in at least a year. Coincidentally, while looking for a band to cover in a feature for tomorrow (i.e. today), I came across White Nights. The band has an obvious Elephant 6 reference in the music the music they create; undoubtedly pop, the band has a clear guitar backed by a fuzzy lo-fi drum kit beat and fronted by fuzzy lo-fi vocals. A definite nod to Jeff Mangum.

“Home Tonight” comes to us from a ggnzla records sampler comp packed with artists like Leo Gebhardt, Partman Parthorse, Sorry and many more. I mention this for a specific reason: most the bands on this comp, to my knowledge, hail from Seattle or the general nearby vicinity of Seattle. Not White Nights, who call Chicago home. But their lo-fi pop is oddly at home with artists like retro lo-fi folk-rock Gebhardt, the erotic Partman Parthorse, and the garage-inspired Sorry.

“Home Tonight” will spark that long repressed nostalgia, reinvigorating and reigniting your love for the good ol’ E6. The song can also be found on the band’s seven-song EP titled Broken Diapason Stop. You can pick up that EP and two other White Nights releases (Basement Piano and The Down Times) over at White Nights MySpace Page.

Stream: “Home Tonight” by White Nights

In defining folk rock, one rarely sees an association made with rockabilly. But it’s a pertinent inclusion in the music Charles Leo Gebhardt IV makes. On his recent GGNZLA Records EP, Unfaithful, it’s the jangle in his guitar – that almost country sound that definitely fits the rock genre (as opposed to jangle pop). “Look Out, Look In” and “Better At Love” have that old-time 50s rock feel, which fits the rockabilly persona, but it’s not nearly as rockin’ as some of those artists tend to be, hence the folk.

Five tracks chiming in at just over twelve minutes; that’s what you get, at the most fact-based of levels. But as aesthetics go, Unfaithful is a marvelous display of easy-to-love, well-written tunes. These songs have a certain currency, yet they’re rooted in the origins of rock music. You can hear their modernity in title-track “Unfaithful”, yet “King Of The Mountain” could just as easily have been released half a century ago. Bridging that gap is what makes Charles Leo Gebhardt IV such a true artist.

Charles Leo Gebhardt IV: Lake Serene [mp3]

GGNZLA Records [CDEP, 2009]

1. Look Out, Look In
2. Lake Serene
3. Better At Love
4. King Of The Mountain
5. Unfaithful