“Serious Man” – Soltero

A confident burst of thoughtful indie rock, “Serious Man” hooks the ear first with its jangly guitar riff and then witih its characteristic time-signature hiccup, arising first as we hear the titular phrase around 0:13: those two extra beats required to fit the music to the words manage both to interrupt and to reaffirm the appealing flow. Nothing like a little asymmetry to make the world a better place in this age of overly perfected beats and AI-induced conformity. Nothing, too, like Tim Howard’s reassuring, unpolished voice, to remind us that we want and need human beings out there expressing themselves. (Why anyone would want to hear a machine expressing itself remains a puzzle to my organic brain and my beating heart.)

“Serious Man” is brisk and to the point, but also expansive enough to include some incisive octave harmonies, some scratchy guitar work, and, as unexpected as it is welcome, a bass solo (1:35-1:47). Best of all is the underlying sense of humor that subtly supports the enterprise, knowingly undercutting the singer’s effort to assert his seriousness. It’s not laugh out loud humor, at all; it’s weary-acceptance-of-the-human condition humor. Although Howard’s low-register vocal following the bass solo (1:47) does provoke a soft smile, at least for me.

Soltero is a shape-shifting project fronted by Howard, which got started back in 2001. Sometimes a solo project, Soltero is now a trio. “Serious Man” is the lead track from Soltero’s ninth album, Staying Alive, released last month. You can check the whole thing out, and buy it, over on Bandcamp. This is the first album Soltero has recorded since the American-born Howard relocated to Berlin in 2018. Soltero has been featured five previous times on Fingertips, most recently in 2023; see the Artist Index for all the links.