A good night for being indoors at a cosy pub to watch an up-and-coming band, especially when it's only $5.

"trouble comes in many small loads."

I was here on a friend's recommendation, having vaguely prepared myself by picking up the album (called More on the Benefits of Hindsight) yesterday afternoon. Clad in denim + a beanie, he treated us to album tracks, new stuff, and even a good bluesy, growly cover of Paul Kelly's Dumb Things. At times, it almost seemed the country driving vibe he gave us was heaven-sent, with a wall of agony streaming from the keyboards behind him, and an often fairly fuzzy sound coming out of his "acoustic" guitar. The drummer looked pretty familiar, too (at least, I think that's him ?). I wasn't so taken with the more growly tracks compared to the more laid-back/lonely-sounding but well-written songs (eg. host or widow), but I'll give him points for variety, as well as for making the effort to keep us entertained during both of the occasions when he had to replace a broken string. Mr Nugent doesn't have the spiritual/poetic/strained voice of, say, Joe Pernice or the soaring cry of Mark Eitzel, but I don't think this'll hold him back.

In a moment of the kind of clarity that you only achieve after a couple of beers, I realised that there's absolutely nothing urban-sounding about a harmonica. Of course, the album cover, with its pictures of skid marks on a country road just near some highway intersection, feeds the feeling.

No pictures this time, 'cause I'd lent my camera to a friend for a couple of days. Sorry 'bout that.