2001's
Tahoe Backcountry found singer/songwriter
Darin Talbot moving from varied material to a general focus on snowboarding culture. For 2003's
Big Air he made the transition complete, attempting to do for that lifestyle what
Jack Johnson did for surfboarding and
Jimmy Buffett did for lounging beachside. His enthusiasm is infectious, but his songcraft fails to rise above journeyman level.
Talbot's voice lacks range but not expression, bearing an eased tone somewhere between
Rob Thomas and
Dave Matthews with some
Cat Stevens tossed in. It's
the Samples, though, that make for the best musical comparison: when not playing acoustic ballads, he tends toward adapting ska to the folk-rock world. This is most clear on the title track and album opener "Tweeker Shred Master," the latter representing
Talbot's third recording of the track in three albums. His approach is tuneful if often derivative -- the refrain of "Heaven's Pie" is highly reminiscent of
Buffett's "Fins" -- but he does understand songcraft well despite suggesting little musical ambition beyond that level. "Snow Day" is a fun idea in its recapture of the childlike wonder of a day freed from school, marred only by some ill-fitting barbershop quartet response vocals. It's "Einstein," though, that holds up best, a clever ode to the house dog: "Einstein equals Mister Charismatic squared." Leisurely ballads dominate the remainder of the album, fluid but forgettable, offering execution but no innovation. The same can be said of the lyrics, dipping into cliché at times and almost daring the listener, in response to the oversimplification of the snowboarder lifestyle, to scream, "How are you going to pay for it?!" If lyrical nuance takes a backseat to keeping the party going, then
Big Air works as a statement of celebration and codification of the life. But for those outside the culture it leaves one a bit chilly. ~ Joseph McCombs