Malcolm Jack

Capitol 6 front man and solo singer-songwriter Malcolm Jack may not have good fashion sense, electing to perform this set while wearing the perennial faux-pas of socks and sandals, but the guy knows how to craft a great tune. This fact was obvious from the opening rendition of "When Did I Become A Dream?" from his solo debut I'm My Own Bewitchment, made that much more striking in the pared-down arrangement of Jack's left handed electric guitar and his bearded buddy Colin Cowan's double bass. His psychedelic indie-rock songwriting, self-labeled as deadbeat folk, is up there with the likes of White Fence and the Fresh & Onlys. Regrettably, Cowan's bass was rather quiet in the mix, but he performed like a thundering storm anyway, letting out a blood curdling scream during "Worried 'Till I'm Buried" and occasionally fluffing up his wild red mane and opening his mouth wide like Animal when the famed Muppet played the drums. Jack swayed and redirected his angle to the crowd somewhat uneasily as he channeled an insane "genius wandering out of the desert saying they've seen God" kind of character. As his world-weary drawl powered through his deceptively simple songs, it seemed his sounds would resonate beyond the bounds of our ephemeral existence.