During a recent trip to Nashville,on an
                            otherwise boring Tuesday night, I
                            listened to Chuck "Southpaw" Jones
                            doing a guest spot for a small,
                            forgettable band. Southpaw's guitar
                            sounded terrible, his voice sucked, and
                            yet his songs, melodically and lyrically,
                            stood out and made me smile. So I
                            bought the Starter Kit to see if I could
                            find more of the same I wasn't
                            disappointed. The songs on Starter Kit
                            have made me smile and sing along' in
                            my car on more than one occasion, and
                            that's pretty high praise. The lyrics are
                            sometimes witty, sometimes touching,
                            but always original and genuine
                            (Communist Girlfriend is a gem). And
                            Jones has hung his well-crafted lyrics on
                            some pretty tasty hooks (thus my
                            singing along). I don't mean TV jingle
                            kind of hooks. I'm talking about
                            sophisticated melodies, ryhthms and
                            rhyme schemes that call to mind early
                            Bob Dylan, Loudon Wainwright III, and
                            Steve Forbert. (yeah, I read another
                            review on this web site comparing Jones
                            to early Dylan and Wainright, but I had
                            the same thought independently.) Yet
                            this CD is far from a masterpiece. For
                            one thing, the production is amateurish.
                            Yes, that's to be expected, but some of
                            these songs really deserve more. For
                            another, Jones really can't sing (that
                            Tuesday night wasn't a fluke) He gives
                            it a college try but Jones simply doesn't
                            have the vocal depth or range to bring
                            his songs, especially the melodic ones,
                            to their full potential. Listening to the
                            Starter Kit is a bit like sampling some
                            outtakes from Pete Townshend's Scoop
                            collection, which contains many
                            unpolished gems that later became Who
                            songs. Interesting and illuminating, but
                            give me Who's Next any day. Still, if you
                            appreciate inventive songwriting, and
                            you're in need of a smile, the Starter Kit
                            is a fine place to start.