***SWAGGER JACK might draw comparison to John Fahey's Blind Joe Death, if only that both characters are completely fictional. Fans should have no problem detecting that this is New Zealand's ANTONY MILTON in full-on songwriting mode (versus his noisier projects such as AM and NETHER DAWN). Self described hillbilly/bluegrass/folk music, Antony couldn't have been more wrong. This is the sort of brilliant misinterpretation (has Antony every heard hillbilly music?) that almost always results in something truly new and innovative. With most of 'Swagger Jack's' sound still being derived from the lo-fi, downer-pop of New Zealand legends like This Kind of Punishment, The Terminals, Roy Montgomery, Alastair Galbraith and even The Clean, Swagger Jack's veins are filled with the feral blood of the Velvet Underground, Joy Division and Wire (Chair's Missing). How all this becomes synthesized into edgy-folk-like songs about camping is hard to say. A deeply creative and melodic album that makes sense in New Zealand, but my be completely beguiling to all the rest of us.