Umm ... Drop

MUSIC

Peasant

By Doug Wallen

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Oct. 8, 2008

photo by michael persico

There are two sides to On the Ground, the stunning second album by Doylestown songwriter Damien DeRose's alter egoPeasant. The first eight songs were crisply produced by the Cobbs' Ryan and Paul Cobb, who also play on them here and there. The final six were produced by DeRose alone and have a more intimate feel, which is saying something. Even his Cobbs-polished tunes, after all, are delivered in a trembling whisper and fragile strum that's been compared to Elliot Smith and Simon & Garfunkel.

The second release on the fledgling Nashville label Paper Garden, On the Ground is a big step forward for Peasant from 2005's Fear Not, Distant Lover and 2006's 7-inch single "The Wind." It's at once cuddly and confident, vulnerable and steadfast. "I've been thinking of you and I want you to know," DeRose sings in near-falsetto--think Bon Iver--on the fleshed out "We're Good."

Another gem, "Impeccable Manners," is light in form and gently funny, opening with the Ray Davies-worthy proclamation "I am a man of impeccable manners." And "Raise Today," heard by millions when it was featured on the recent season premiere of TV's Bones, makes for a twinkling mid-album nightcap.

Peasant
Sun., Oct. 12, 7pm.
$8.
With Shannon Pelcher + Bevin Caulfield.
Tin Angel,
20 S. Second St. 215.928.0770.
www.tinangel.com

Whether seeing DeRose live--where he's humble and even funnier--or soaking up his records, his sharp and simple lyrics have a way of sneaking up on you. Take this line from "Those Days": "Well, I feel bad for you but I don't/ 'Cause it's stupid and I won't." It's tucked into a dreamy song that could just as easily pass you by unnoticed. That's because Peasant isn't the stuff of emoting singer-songwriters or grand folk-rock; it's just a thoughtful way for DeRose to catalog the peaks and valleys of his heart without waking the neighbors.