Assuming he’s a normal human being, Elijah Mink has 10 toes. And on his latest musical project’s (One Gun Galleria) new record, he dips all 10 of those toes into different moods, styles and genres. It’s that reluctance — a hesitation to commit to one style — that is simultaneously the greatest accomplishment and biggest law of the album.
Following an introductory “ladies and gentlemen!” track, One Gun carves several even-tempered, uncomplicated indie songs. But then it shifts: There’s a critical moment, exactly midway through the fourth track (“Country Whistle”), when Mink drives things down a darker, odder rock-driven path. And from then on his talent doesn’t just shine — it gleams.
Track ive, “What I Want,” is melodramatic and foreboding: a clean, covert cradlesong. Mink is proliic again on “Can’t Stop It,” letting the sanity of the record erode a little. Mink’s vocals waver with an urgency, drive and force there, and it kind of makes you wish every song felt as volatile — as perfectly imperfect — as this one.