With the recent reunions of seminal late ’80s and early ’90s bands like The Pixies, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. and Smashing Pumpkins, the music world is tantalizingly ripe for a serious college rock revival. A return to the grungy halcyon days of lo-fi alterna-rock certainly seems to be at the front of Edmontonian Tim Gilbertson’s mind on his self-titled debut album.
    Harkening back to a time when indie rock was actually used to describe bands on independent labels and hip hop was still having a tough time cracking the charts, Gilbertson’s album has just enough snaking guitars and muddy vocals to make Pavement fans remember the good old days. Unfortunately, they won’t get much more than remembrance, because Gilbertson isn’t able to differentiate himself enough to stand apart from his obvious influences. His songs are serviceable and he is clearly a talented musician, but the album as a whole lacks personality. The one area where Gilbertson does manage to be distinctive is his vocals, but their hushed, breathy quality doesn’t suit the straight-ahead college rock sound particularly well.
    Though the above might suggest otherwise, Gilbertson’s debut isn’t terrible. In fact, it’s a promising album. Gilbertson demonstrates that he has the chops to be a solid musician and the potential to be a good songwriter; he just needs to grow a bit more. Considering he’s only 20 years old, expect a stronger, more unique take on the forefathers of alternative rock from Gilbertson soon.