Album Review: Dimmer. by The Zincs

Like fellow Chicagoan by way of the United Kingdom Chris Connelly, Jim Elkington brought over his love of all things David Bowie and Scott Walker, discovered some new loves, and then let the Midwest have her way with them. As more or less the sole member of the Zincs -- he plucks some of the fruitful city's finest apples for the occasional guest spot -- Elkington has crafted an uplifting, despondent, and always atmospheric collection of elegant indie rock that never takes itself too seriously -- opening with a tune called "Breathing in the Disease" wouldn't come off half as wry if the record didn't close with "The Meagre Prick. " The musicianship is top-notch throughout, with gut-stringed guitars, distant keyboards, and treacle-drenched strings providing the backdrop for Elkington's rich and literate baritone.

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Jim Elkington, sometime member of marginally notable British bands Sophia and Elevate, wound up in Chicago some years back and started recording songs about romance and displacement and romantic displacement. The titles of his recorded output so far as The Zincs – a full-length called Moth and Marriage on the sadly defunct Ohio Gold label, and an EP, Forty Winks with the Zincs, on Thrill Jockey – conjure images of somber sentiments in sleepy tones on dry Victorian nights, and as it happens this is pretty much what Elkington and his occasional bandmates are about. Dimmer, Elkington's second full-length, this time augmented by a solid cast of fellow Zincs and auxiliary players, follows in the shuffling footsteps of its predecessors, both musically and metaphorically.

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