Ken Dirschl

Former Gasoline front-man Ken Dirschl has delivered a solid alt-country album with Plan For Conquest. His songs are all well written and despite his recordings sounding a little flat at times, the disc flows well. The only thing that really haunts this album is Dirschl’s constant vocal impersonations. Throughout most of the disc he seems to be ducking and weaving between trying to sound like various members of the Traveling Wilburys (sometimes in one song). This is the only real drawback though. Dirschl has a penchant for writing catchy tunes that sound remarkably relaxed. His hooks come off as almost happenstance while just trying to tell a story. He also seems to have an understanding of the conventions of his genre while having just as good an understanding of its clichés. This lets Plan For Conquest settle into the same territory as Matt Mays’ self-titled debut with good songs set in rock/country arrangements. Dirschl avoids trying to jam his notions for each track down your throat. He lets you digest each one on your own.