Over blaring zamboni organ and faux-bass, a badly mic’d voice bellows: “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AT GUARD, COMING IN AT SIX-FOOT-NOTHING… THE GREATEST BEDROOM POPPER IN THE TRI-STATE AREA… JIMMY WHISPERS!!” The voice is of course Jimmy‘s himself, and the intro is actually pretty musically representative of debut LP Summer in Pain itself: Ten songs and 23 minutes of ultra lo-fi (and extremely enjoyable) solo pop missives about pain, summer, drugs, love, death and summer. The album, which sounds like Daniel Johnston hanging out by himself at a beach party, is so unpretentious in its musical scope and lyrical ambition that its more genuinely affecting moments — surprisingly numerous — end up striking pretty deep.
“This is our summer in hell together!” Whispers rants in the album’s press release. “This ain’t no Toys R’Us cuz Jimmy don’t play so get the fuck out of the kiddie pool. This is apocalyptic love sickness.” Sounds about right. Stream the album below, and look out for the official release March 23 on Moniker Records.
