Stylus Magazine
April 6th Issue of Stylus Magazine in Canada 2005
Review by Broose Tulloch
http://www.ckuw.ca/stylus/index2.html
I didn’t much like this album at all the first time through. Thank heaven for the second. But it affected me somehow, compelling me to listen again and again. I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is that gives “From Anywhere But Here” it’s impact, but the industrial ruins throughout the US Midwest provide ample inspiration. The US Midwest, is where UnknownComponent, actually Keith Lynch hails from. What keeps me returning to this album is that every challenging piece has real point to it, Lynch never challenges the listener just to be clever or condescending (or preachy). “From Anywhere But Here” is a haunting and bleak project with round notes, it effectively gives the listener the perspective of a human lost in acaustic and toxic industrial landscape where communities once thrived and frolicked. There’s a wonderful contrast between the sweet minimalist melodies and the harsh ache of Lynch’s voice. It’s Elliott Smith without all the self-pity, it’s Charles Bukowski without the self-destruction, it’s Bob Dylan without the nasal, and Radiohead without the British dry wit. It’s the stark truth that flies in the face of the romantic cliches about America’s heartland.