Tom Morgan
Orange Syringe
Fire Records [2013]
Fire Note Says: Orange Syringe is a stark and beautiful record that is well worth checking out.
Album Review: Let’s get one thing out of the way right now; no one is ever going to call Tom Morgan a great singer. His vocal range is limited and is often strained when pushing his limits. He is the definition of an acquired taste. Think of someone like Robert Forster from the Go-Betweens and you have a pretty close comparison to what Morgan sounds like. Having said that, he is a great songwriter and musician, and we get all of that and more on his debut solo release, Orange Syringe.
The songs on Orange Syringe, are stripped bare of ornate instrumentation, often featuring only his acoustic guitar playing and some drums. The sparse song structures allow for his lyrics to take the spotlight, and Morgan uses this spotlight to weave his storytelling magic, covering a multitude of topics, that are often very dark and personal, but can also be upbeat and downright optimistic. And most importantly, his songs are always catchy.
“Best Thing For My Baby” is about as fine of an example of haunting pop as you are going to hear. It’s dark, bleak, and personal, and highly compelling to listen to. “Taste For Blood” is a fast charging song, but once again, very dark lyrically. “Awkward Living” is a slow burning song that sounds like it wouldn’t have been out of place on Skip Spence’s Oar lp. “I’ll Provide the Wine” would have been one of the better songs on Robert Forster’s highly underrated The Evangelist lp.
It’s tempting to compare Orange Syringe to the work Tom Morgan did when he was working with Evan Dando and The Lemonheads. He wrote many of their better known songs, including “It’s a Shame About Ray” and “Allison’s Starting to Happen”, but those comparisons are unfair. For one, that was a long time ago, and two Morgan doesn’t sound anything like Dando’s honey throated voice. However, it is completely fair to compare his songs from that era to the songs he is writing now, and they more than stand up. This is a stark record, but’s it’s also a beautiful record, and it is well worth your time to check it out.
Key Tracks: “I’ll Provide the Wine”, “Best Thing For My Baby”, “Virtuoso”
Artists With Similar Fire: The Go-Betweens / Skip Spence / Robert Forster
Fire Records
-Reviewed by Kevin Poindexter
Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, I am extremely proud of the area I grew up in and the influence it has had on the world at large, from the Wright Brothers to Robert Pollard, the area has been a center of innovation both technologically and artistically. During my college years at the University of Dayton, I found myself becoming more and more immersed in the local music scene, a period of time in the early to mid 90's that coincided with the rise of bands like Guided by Voices, Brainiac, and The Breeders, who added to the rich musical legacy of the area. Dayton is also the hometown of many giants of funk in the 70's and is also the birthplace of Jazz greats Billy Strayhorn, John Scofield and Bud Shank. I wrote extensively for The Fire Note, a great online magazine focused on indie rock, in the 2010's while simultaneously being a partner in Rockathon Records, before retiring from both in 2018. In 2024, my thoughts turned back to helping at Rockathon and more importantly to pick back up on my writing, and more specifically to write about my love of jazz. I'm always listening, always searching for something new, something great. It's been a lifelong journey, and I still feel like there is so much out there to hear.
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
