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"…wayward
talents somehow left alone to pursue an eccentric, uncommercial
vision…so incoherent as to risk shaking off the listener at the
first hurdle…"
Stewart Lee
London Sunday Times, September 8, 1996
"Consider
Varnaline's Man of Sin his [Anders] stunning watermark. It is a
ten-song grieving process for humanity, and it comes straight from
the streets like a blown sheet of garbage. And yes, this all comes
across musically. As few others, Varnaline can convert simple, two-string
discharges into poetic truths. But with six strings, some extra
tracks and a few effects pedals, Varnaline leave us for another
world of shred guitars, concertinas dragged across knives and microphones
smashed under guitar tires until their voices sob."
Alternative Press
"To
put it simply, Varnaline grave-robs folk music and casts it into
the not-too-distant future...Varnaline is the twisted descendent
of barefoot troubadours and front-porch bluesmen. As the ghosts
of Phil Ochs and Robert Johnson hang ominously in the air, the music
teeters on the brink between solid construction and nerve-racking
entropy; guitars clamor, twinge out of tune, then snap back with
resilient melody that lodges itself into memory."
SF Weekly
"Fuzz-toned
post-folk from an occasional member of Long Island's Space Needle...Skiffle
beats and stately acoustic strumming provide the underpinning for
Parker's sturdy, meloncholy voice...At times the record is downright
chilling.. Well worth a listen for fans of the DIY aesthetic."
Option
"Take
one Space Needle member, Anders Parker; take one four-track studio
in Oregon and 10 hushed, lovingly unsentimental songs flickered
and fuzzed with unsweetened guitar. You might end up with this dustily
majestic kinda-solo album, Man of Sin"
Melody Maker
"A
Space Needle side project spotlighting Anders Parker that rolls
along like a dustball and actually hums like coherent diary entries
(from drug-induced relationship funk that is)."
Spin
"Man
of Sin's big heart and fuzzy production give it an intriguing 'space-folk'
feel...So a band with the wandering soul of Alex Chilton and the
debauched heart of Robert Johnson... Soon to be everyone's favourite
space folksters."
New Musical Express
"Like
Eddie Vedder, Varnaline songwriter Anders Parker seems to idolize
Neil Young for his twangy introspection; unlike Pearl Jam, he doesn't
weigh down his melanchology with exhibitionistic melodrama. Whether
they're flirting with a socialist agenda or confronting an existential
crisis, Varnaline approach their subject matter with a quiet dignity
that eludes most fellow twentysomethings."
Entertainment Weekly
"Man
of Sin is a lovely work in exile, imaginative, noisy, standoffish,
hopeful, tender, bored. And surprising, too."
Time Out New York
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