Walk into any corner pub on any given night and in all likelihood you'll hear an aspiring singer-wongwriter plying his/her trade, hoping to be discovered and turned into the next Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell. The world is full of people who believe that because they can strum a guitar and write lyrics that sound deep and sensitive, they a) have talent and b) have some sort of special "wisdom" that needs to be shared. In most cases, they're incorrect. They may be earnest enough, and they may have written their music with the most sincere of intentions, but their music steals extensively from those vaunted folkies they seek to emulate.
For this reason, Brian Michael Roff's Errors Intact is truly exceptional. Roff has talent, and what he has to say is worth listening to. On each song, Roff displays considerable ability, combining stellar musicianship with intelligent, thoughtful lyrics. "This Thick World," in particular, is excellent, its twangy electric guitar and deep baritone vocals recalling Hayden at his strongest moments.
Further proof of the album's quality can be found when you examine its biggest flaw -- its length. EPs are normally risky propositions; When they're bad, one is left to wonder what the point was, and why anyone took the trouble to collect less than an album's worth of sub-par recordings. Very good EPs, like Errors Intact, leave the listener with an odd lack of fulfillment. The music lets you in and creates a nearly immediate emotional connection -- and when the connection is severed after just 15 minutes, it's difficult not to feel like something more is needed. This something more is likely Roff's upcoming LP.
Errors Intact is an above-average effort, and Roff offers hope for the future of the singer-songwriter profession. The biggest challenge to listeners will be to find a copy of Errors Intact; Roff pressed a very short run, and given the disc's quality, it's doubtful that many of those will be finding their way to any used CD stores in the near future. I guess that's one more reason to look forward to his full-length.
