Josh Rouse is often mistakenly pigeonholed as a roots-songwriter, but the Nashville-via-Nebraska artist’s music is actually more closely aligned with the kind of eclectic stylists who proceeded him on the bill at the Black Cat Thursday night-- Archer Prewitt and The National Trust. Those Chicagoans---National Trust played a set with distinct Hall and Oates and 70’s soul overtones; Prewitt favoring some cerebral pop land where Chicago and Tim Buckley are next-door neighbors---value sound and feel over traditional songcraft, and Rouse’s set emphasized a keening guitar pop that was carefully sculpted and decidedly more engaging than what he achieves on his recordings.
Backed by a basic rock band of drums, bass and guitar, Rouse delivered a well-paced performance that was based on his latest release, “Cold Blue Stars”. Elevated by the swirling electric guitar leads of Curt Perkins, songs like “Women and Men” and “Ugly Stories” achieved a glistening edge that both suited Rouse’s subdued, rolling vocals and reflected his proclaimed love of British pop bands like The Smiths.
Rouse swayed and sang with a kind of low-key, open-mouthed ecstasy that indicated his comfort with both his backing musicians and his material---older songs like “Dressed Up Like Nebraska” and “Afraid to Fail” blended with new ones like “It’s A Miracle” in a pulsing guitar pop that outstripped their rather nondescript recorded versions. That Rouse and his band could enliven his songs with this kind of energy was a bit of surprise, indicating his work contains a depth and left-of-center pop vibrancy he hasn’t been able to capture in a recording studio.
Washington Post, 2002
