Joycean though his name may be, Liam Finn is actually from New Zealand. But his music does suggest that he may be the kind of guy to contemplate language theory over heavy beers. His freshman solo release, I’ll Be Lightning, would fool the unbeknownst listener into thinking that they were actually hearing a veteran soundsmith with decades of recording experience. This facade is helped by the fact that Liam’s father Neil was in a couple of semi-famous Aussie New Wave acts (Crowded House, Split Enz), and by the early acclaim of Betchadupa, teen Liam’s band that was awarded the “Best New Act” prize at the NZ Music Awards in 2000 (he was 17 at the time). Known for his intense concerts and one-man-band approach to recording and performing, I’ll Be Lightning gently mingles between generic definitions while avoiding close association with any, sliding around catchy indie-folk melodies and venturing to ends where drumming in the form of a good-old-fashioned-Keith-Moon-style beating becomes apropos underneath layers of deafening, sculpted noise. Imagine Keller Williams on a Pet Sounds binge to get things started. Add a dash of Death Cab, a sprinkle Of Montreal and theremin, and, as Carl Weathers would say, “Baby, you got a stew goin’.” No wonder Rolling Stone named Finn to their recent list of artists to watch. One of the main questions surrounding this anticipated release was how Liam would respond to his father’s New Wave pioneering, but from the opening strains of “Better to Be,” it quickly becomes clear that, rather than revolt against dad’s style, Liam has embraced and helped develop its sound in a new century. The first four tracks, all quite strong, help define the parameters by which Finn operates: the melodic lines form layers of sound that rise and then subdue behind lyrics that pack an unassuming though provocative punch. Guitar and bass carry most of the momentum, but there is a constant dipping into the Byrne and Bowie effect bag, Liam tumbling them out with fresh reinvention in ways similar to other critically successful groups like Deerhunter and The Flaming Lips. “Gather to the Chapel” is the finest of the opening tracks, as it’s a song that is very hard to get out of your head (mainly because you don’t want it to) that leads into the rocker “Lead Balloon,” which effectively, awesomely bursts the pleasantness with screaming snares and Finn vocally caroming “I know what I’m looking for!” A long pause later and a sweeping section that comprises the middle of the album (tracks 5-10) begins with “Fire in Your Belly.” These six songs radiate an amorphous nostalgia for pain and hope believed though unseen. They are more somber and dabble in the recent Brian Wilson revival that has brought acclaim to Panda Bear, Caribou and The Besnard Lakes, among others. Finn, though, uses smiley harmonic layering to a better end because he does so through deliberate construction as opposed to the psychedelic jumble of voices and manufactured noises characteristic of the others. The short “Lullaby” is the best example of this, whose brief parade of good vibrations expertly builds over the next three tracks, “Energy Spent,” “Music Moves My Feet” and “Remember When,” before culminating in “Wise Man,” arguably the finest song on the album. By the end of the catchy tune, one feels perfectly satisfied in the knowledge that Liam Finn is an artist to be reckoned with who has created an excellent album. But it doesn’t end there. Finn stretches his freshman work into a dramatic epilogue of four songs that reveal a grand and troubling thematic impulse. Rather than let the listener rest with the peaceful conclusion that could have been provided through “Wise Man,” Finn introduces another rocker, this time with creepy layered vocals and unsettling lyrical underpinnings. Succeeding “This Place is Killing Me” is the title track, which doesn’t succumb to the chart-ready pop modalities that title tracks are generally expected to present; “I’ll Be Lightning,” rather, comes off like a scary elf tribe’s devious work march. (Imagine “Whistle While You Work” on a bad hit of Brown.) The final two songs, “Wide Awake on the Voyage Home” and “Shadow of Your Man” grow increasingly spare, providing a stark contrast to the richness of the album’s opening. Through lines like “I always drive drunk,” “I don’t know what to do by your side/I will lie awake/Tell me love isn’t true/Is this just a trick to procreate” and “It’s my plan to make you understand/I’m the shadow of your man,” Finn boldly abandons detached curiosity for dejected, romanticized malaise. Overall: A- Why an A-?; I’ll Be Lightning is cool and catchy at first glance, weirdly interesting upon a third and engrossing upon a tenth. If it has a shortcoming, it is in some level of flatness that is expected from a person writing, producing and recording a record completely solo. Fortunately, Liam Finn is astoundingly original, creative and talented. Hopefully he will continue to produce work of this caliber, but, regardless, I feel confident that this great piece of auditory art will survive the test of time. Joe Koch is a writer and musician from Mississippi living in the DC area.  He enjoys many forms of music (particularly the music of the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Todd Snider and other people who make music), many forms of literature (particularly William Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy, Walker Percy and other people who write literature), his dog Sugar Magnolia (Maggie) and long walks on the beach [sic].  Because writing and musicianing doesn’t pay well these days, he also has a day job that forces him to sell out to corporate America and ride subway trains for long hours with thousands of other haplessly proselytized commuters.  For more from Joe, visit his blog at http://rebeldeadhead.blogspot.com.