By: Greg Gargiulo

Born in the Wrong Era (Social Science Recordings) plays like someone’s personal journal given life by way of delicate musical accommodation. Only, in this case, Vincent Minor‘s journal is stated eloquently and engagingly, to the extent that you’re actually concerned with what’s going on in his personal universe. Difficult to determine whether he’s being more realist or pessimist, Minor walks us through five quaint numbers that star him in the leading role in a work about mundane travails, internal demons and the manner by which he best attempts to cope with the lot.

Judging from the EP’s title alone, it’s clear that Minor does the self-proclaiming of casting himself an outcast, and the style he uses to deliver his lines only further support the role he strives to fill. Most tracks feature a gentle piano at their nucleus, topped by minimal usage of a some lazy strings or a drum beat just barely fast enough to keep it moving, and a few other random insertions are unlikely to arouse any inner thirst for rhythm. But, it’s Minor’s inquisitive, perplexing lyrics that do most of the carrying here, as well as the off-rhymed, scattered pace he expresses them in. “Friday the Thirteenth” spotlights his lifelong tendency to be affected by bad luck in a comical tone that wonders, “Why always me?” but doesn’t seem to care a whole lot, while “Late Night Show” is more of a self-loathing rant on all his internal maladies and poor habits, considering perhaps there are enough of them to land him some kind of twisted time slot alongside Conan or Letterman. Minor has a clever – if self-deprecating – voice, and listening to his struggles is strangely entertaining and enjoyable. A tad more musical oomph and this black humorist has a legit chance to take off.

JamBase | Pondering
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