Record Review - 2 November 10 2004

In the World of Him lurches and creaks like a haunted-house ride through the creepy, desolate byways of the male heart. Timms brings wonderful interpretative powers to these songs — all but one written by guys. Using her sultry, velvety voice, Timms sings with a gravity that abets the loping, laconic tunes that evoke both the dark vaudevillian sway of Kurt Weill and the rustic, traditional twang of Timms' other band, the Mekons. She masterfully delivers these songs of desperation, distress and, finally, hope. Timms' low, breathy vocals comb Mark Eitzel's "God's Eternal Love" for a sense of belonging. She tumbles through the sheets on Johnny Dowd's anthem of conquest, "139 Hernalser GÜrtel," and opens herself up to the heartfelt passion of the album's highlight, Kevin Coyne's tender, affecting country track, "I'm Just a Man."

Musically, the album is suffused with clanging percussion and a dull mechanistic echo. It feels like it was forged in some long-forgotten, post-industrial ghost town, with the wind whistling tales of grief, sorrow, and love gone by.Sally Timms plays Red Light Cafe Wed., Nov. 17, 8 p.m. $8-$10.