Abandoned Road, Self-released**

Sing about what you know? That's not a rule that Tarantella Fall live by. The Dublin band's debut album loosely threads 13 tracks together using the dreaded "c" word: concept. Abandoned Road's gloomy tone matches the accounts of its murderous American protagonist John Wilmore, but there's nothing particularly original or inventive about either their sound or their lyrics. The quartet's attempts at aping The Bad Seeds or some dark folk-noir band sound strained and hokey at the best of times, particularly when Chris Kinsella sings lines like "I first met Jack in Delaware / He cut my face in a drunken dare" in an Irish accent with a pseudo-American twang. Although their adept musicianship can't be faulted, the album's long running time makes its dusty backroads rock a mostly tedious listen. See tarantellafall.com

Download tracks: Cold Heart, Abandoned Road