Published at 8:59 AM on April 22, 2009

By Gray Chapman

Damion Suomi:
Damion Suomi

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Suomi's melodies are equal parts rowdy and rousing

The self-titled debut album from singer-songwriter Suomi (that's "sue-me") is full of raucous, pub-hazed ballads backed by stomps, claps and hollers. Suomi sings about women, the devil, and the drink—and looks for his answers at the bottom of the bottle.

He abandons the singer-songwriter maxim of teary-eyed, wistful yearning, and instead, his often-gritty Southern lilt hammers out an uproarious and honest record.

The roughhousing subsides in some of Suomi's more poignant songs, like "Archer Woman," a simple song about an untamable green-eyed lover, and "What a Wonderful Game," a bitter ode to a vapid, purely sexual relationship. Suomi's jarring cynicism can overwhelm in one dose, but his pounding, unruly bar-crowd songs are foot-stompingly uplifting. 

Even in his most intimate tracks, Suomi doesn't try to outdo himself with grandiosity and sweeping emotions. Rather, his album runs the gamut from stark sincerity to rambunctious bourbon-swigging.

Listen to "Sunday Morning" from Damion Suomi:

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