Darryl Blood used to record under the moniker Tiltmaster. His debut under his own surname is wonderful. If the late, great Elliot Smith were stuck on the East Coast instead of the West, this is what I imagine he'd sound like. Layers of instrumentation, some breakbeatish drumming, and really good lyrics make this a wonderful CD. The only complaint I have is that it's only 8 tracks, but everyone of them is good. The first two tracks are the best, in my opinion. The opener, "Happy Today," has the feel of a 60s sitcom theme song in that it just makes you tap your foot in smile. Happy songs have rarely been done better. And track two, "Stool Pigeon" has a nice beat and builds nicely over it's 5 minutes. I love the line "I fell in love with a poet once, and she stole all my ashes." Delightful! There's excellent use of banjo, and the chorus gets stuck in my head for days in a row. Each song has it's moments, and while there is nothing earth shattering going on here, it is a nice change from the typical sad, singer songwriter albums that I usually expect. There isn't a real weak moment on here, and I can only anticipate the next Darryl Blood album greatly. Play that harmonica! 7/10 -- Brad Rose (12 June, 2005)