Jules Shear – Dreams Don’t Count / 2005 Mad Dragon / 12 Tracks / http://www.maddragonrecords.com / Reviewed 30 March 2006

As much as I wanted to say that Jules Shear has a sound that is similar to Bob Dylan during the opening track of “Dreams Don’t Count”, the fact is that Shear blazes a path for eirself by only the third or forth minute of the disc. The tracks are fairly dreamy, with the sound of acoustic rock bolstered by an atmosphere that cradles Shear’s output at all sections of this disc. During a track like “You Anymore”, the slightly nasal vocals of Jules Shear will remind listeners of a young Tom Petty or Warren Zevon, while the sedate backing instrumentation adds a little Cajun haze to the track.

The ability of Shear to mix in other styles with the songs on “Dreams Don’t Count” is nothing less than extraordinary. Songs like “Do What They Want” are more country than anything else on the market, even the twangy pop they call country nowadays. The disc is over forty-five minutes and one has little chance of getting tired of Shear’s vocals. The instrumentation is always solid and thought-out, but the vocals make up a large reason why individuals will flock to this disc. During a track like “Wherever”, the vocals put down by Shear move slightly from the Dylan/Petty/Zevon camp into a more contemporary, Marc Schultz-type of sound. In this track, Shear is not merely singing over a constructed track but provides the major part of the harmony present. The inclusion of strings during “Sinners Who Believed” add an early twentieth-century sound to Shear’s repertoire and keep individuals tuned in for the last few tracks.

Where individuals can be said to be diverse on their albums, Shear moves beyond being diverse to a state in which ey reinvents eirself with each subsequent track on “Dreams Don’t Count”. I’m unsure on exactly how many individuals will be able to pick this up and see the beauty inherent in the compositions here, but those individuals that can dissect Shear’s music will be able to be floored. “An Important Part” throws in a little jazz influenced into the late game of this disc, and this unlikely pop star should (by the end of this disc) have a mass of fans ranging from the newest pop listener to the wisened music aficionado. Here’s to hoping Shear busts it big in this new year, and that “Used to It” and its ilk will make inroads to radio stations all across the world.

Top Tracks: Used To It, Wherever

Rating: 7.0/10

[JMcQ]