Jolene goes on and on

North Carolina group's "In the Gloaming" lacks musical diversity

CD REVIEW

By Nina Pham, On-line Forty-Niner

February 5,1998

Jolene's second album, "In the Gloaming," is artistic, melancholy and a little gritty, but fails at its attempt to move, inspire and innovate.

The band hails from North Carolina and is headed by writer and lead singer John Crooke.

Dave Burris plays lead guitar, Mike Kenerley is the drummer, and Mike Mitschele plays bass guitar.

Jolene first received attention after being the opening act for Hootie and the Blowfish's fall 1996 tour.

The resulting buzz surrounding the group helped sales for its first album, "Hell's Half Acre."

Now, Jolene has signed with Sire Records, and "In the Gloaming" marks its major-label debut. Some of the album's 14 songs were road-tested in live performances.

Jolene's sound is interesting, but more times than not the music misses the mark.

This group's approach is similar to fellow Sire acts such as Echo and the Bunnymen, the Pretenders and the Replacements.

However, Jolene fails to introduce something special to the music world.

His songs lack dimension ...

It becomes increasingly difficult to stand him

because his constant crooning drills into the listener's head.

The new album does have a few good tracks like "Pensacola," "Exhibit (World Disturbance)," and "Wave to the Worrying," but most of it is trite garbage.

The biggest problem with Jolene is Crooke.

He has a decent voice, but his songs lack dimension. His voice gets old fast because it isn't varied enough.

He has talent but doesn't try anything new in his vocalizing.

It becomes increasingly difficult to stand him because his constant crooning drills into the listener's head.

Jolene's music has an appealing quality but needs improvement in its sonic and thematic diversity.

The songs are depressing and the lyrics lack excitement.

"In the Gloaming" is a well-intentioned effort that may allure some, though it misses the bigger target by a long shot.