You have to admire anyone who stakes out his musical landscape and clings to it no matter what. In the pop marketplace, the desire to reach a mass audience will lead all but the heartiest souls to shift in a more popular direction inch by inch, seemingly giving up nothing until one day they look in the mirror and find themselves dressed like the Insane Clown Posse. Settly is in no such danger. These days, Settly is probably better known as a soundman about town, but his albums show a love of the Who and a commitment to Townshend and Maximum R&B, complete with Keith Moon-like drumming (courtesy of Kyle Melancon much of the time). Settly doesn’t sound slavish in its Who-ness, though. There are no Entwhistle bass lines racing up and down the neck, creating a second layer of rippling as powerful in their own way as Moon’s blur of energy. That makes the energy a little more stable and gives the songs breathing room.

 

On the tracks without Melancon, the Who-ness gives way to more spacious indie rock. While the songs are sturdy, Settly plays most of the instruments and he could use more imaginative sidemen in some cases. “Spewing Diatribe” particularly could use more rampage, but I’d still rather listen to Settly than Endless Wire.