Based out of Portland, OR, Kapoor tells classic American tales in a stripped down and haunting folk style, one that borrows a lot from Bruce Springsteen's classic Nebraska. Drenched in reverb, his often finger-picked acoustic guitar is accompanied by the occasional harmonica, second guitar, subtle strings or light percussion. His voice is a mix of fresh and vintage. Although I hear hints of early Leonard Cohen in his delivery, the two artists Kapoor’s voice recalls the most are both more modern. Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel and Colin Meloy of The Decemberists have had an obvious impact on his vocal style. This LP was recorded by Adam Seltzer (M. Ward) and features contributions from Nate Query of The Decemberists and Jeff Ratner of Langhorne Slim.
The Ballad of Willy Robbins begins with “Bottom of the Ladder,” a sparse folk tune and a good indicator of what to expect, sonically, from the record; cloying and somewhat inventive melodies over straight-forward folk guitar. Occasionally an odd chord will strike somewhat unexpectedly, but for the most part this music’s passion is all in its subject matter and lyrics. The title track deals directly with working-class themes. Its protagonist is swindled by his employer into wasting a considerable amount of time laboring for no pay. The ballad doesn't end well for our hero’s relationship with his wife either. A quiet but effective church organ fills the song out.
“I Dreamt Blues” follows, telling a story that's sketched out more sparingly than a Pete Seegar song or a lost cut from Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin'. “Blue-Eyed Baby” is a bit of an outlier. Slow and mellow, it's more soft-spoken and romantic than its predecessors. It's followed by the most energetic track on the disc, the dark and modal “Carry Me, Home,” which benefits from banjo and additional droning guitars.
Throughout most of Willy Robbins Kapoor sports a boyish but confident tenor. However when confronted with a very high note he attempts an awkward and distracting falsetto, as he does throughout “I Never Knew What I Saw in You”. The song is well written and has me until the chorus, when the melody flies out of Kapoor’s range. He recovers with one of the album’s strongest songs, “Searching for the Sun,” with its warm and twangy pedal steel. A track that can clearly be traced to Nebraska, Kapoor sounds right at home in its reverb. By the time The Ballad of Willy Robbins is over, it’s clear that while these songs are thematically similar, they form at best a very loose concept album.
What makes Vikesh Kapoor's music interesting isn't that he's doing something radical or even necessarily unique with folk music. Instead, he’s providing a refreshing perspective on the passionate working-class traditions that once defined the genre. The child of an immigrant family, perhaps Kapoor is in tune with the same American Dream that fueled the migrants who helped shape this country’s earliest music.
Fabricoh Magazine
