Search - Erik Sanko :: Past Imperfect / Present Tense

Erik Sanko's paid his team-player dues twice: as the bassist for John Lurie's post-punk jazz outfit the Lounge Lizards and then in the "junk pop" band Skeleton Key. With the release of his first solo album, Past Perfect, Present Tense, though, Sanko comes off as truly alone, exposing the broken pieces of his heart with delicate hands. Every song tells of some kind of loss, with Sanko's voice breaking in places under the weight of his words. Most of the relationship blows he recounts are blunt. "While You Were Out" is a grave Dear John letter from someone who's fallen out of love: "'While you were out, a few things have changed / the furniture has been rearranged / I moved my books from all the shelves / and I fell in love with somebody else / because I'm not dead,' she said." While putting a breakup to music is nothing new, it's poetic lines like these that make Past Perfect such an emotional album. The music sounds just as fragile as the lyrics, like plucked guitar strings or simple keyboard melodies are all the strength Sanko can muster in his crumpled state. For fans of the artful way bands like Sparklehorse and Smog deliver depression, Erik Sanko is a weepy heart's dream. --Jennifer Maerz