NICK TEEHAN plays a CD release Friday (April 20) at the Tranzac. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Baritone crooner Nick Teehan made the move from Oshawa to Toronto to study jazz sax and has since played in the Fedora Upside-Down folk collective, Barbarella and Maylee Todd’s backup band. The theatrical writer/performer’s debut album bursts with an unlikely array of instruments: electric guitars sidle up to clarinet, strings, horns, accordion and his brother Rob’s sousaphone.
Be forewarned: attention-grabbing opener Racoon is the album’s loudest, grittiest, most cacophonous track. When yelling, Teehan channels Tom Waits, but more striking is his eerie vocal similarity to early Rufus Wainwright. A captivating and imaginative songwriter, he offers Burning Hell-style dystopian commentary (Disneyland), folk balladry with a twist (Isobella Morris) and a slow piano spiritual for Toronto hipsters (Broken Window).
Start with poppy Say Hello and move on to the sparse, eccentric Mom Song.
Top track: Broken Window
