Edward Rogers: Glass Marbles

If you’re going to listen to Glass Marbles, you’re going to ask yourself questions about aesthetics. There are moments when the instrumentals flourish, where you can cocoon yourself up in the warmth of a guitar tone (see the Velvets-esque “Broken Wishes on Display”). On the other hand, Edward Rogers’ voice has the natural limitations of an untrained singer, and while in a best case scenario those limitations can provide inspiration for a different sonic palette, too often on Glass Marbles the voice is used to awkward effect. To cap it off, the album is eighteen tracks long, with songs often topping out over the four-minute mark. It’s a lot to listen to in one go, even for a record twice as cohesive as this one.

The songwriting volleys between lyrically amateurish and unremarkably catchy, and while it’s clear Rogers has a great ear for what he wants out of an instrument, and the band behind him really delivers, his chord changes occasionally leave the listener baffled and harmonically unstuck. The history, the ‘70s aesthetic that Rogers is striving for is present throughout, but it’s rarely used successfully.