Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele – The Good Feeling Music of …

Yes, straight in from Tracy Island, a chunky-jumpered Gerry Anderson puppet (specifically: Brains) made flesh: this self proclaimed "softest boy in Mississippi" has been signed up by The Animal Collective's own label after they came across him on a night out, and is produced by Rusty Santos - producer and collaborator of the aforementioned act.Sounding like a youthful Jonathan Richman fronting a preppy and under-rehearsed early 60's doo-wop band, May's voice veers between a rather monotone thin croon and a sometimes desperate falsetto, and that twanging ukulele is well to the fore as he pulls out all the kitsch stops. Without his live showman/novelty appeal, it does start to wear thin after a few tracks, but selective listening can make this something to return to intermittently for the twee feel good factor of the catchy tunes and endearingly geeky lyrics - a PowerPoint presentation heralds love 'At The Academic Conference'.At his most jovial and giddy-up there's a lot of Noah and The Whale's '5 Years Time' about the overall sound. 'Meet Me In The Garden' and '26 Miles (Santa Catalina)' have the most amenable loping rhythms, and 'College Town Boy' the wittiest lyrics: "Get off your ass and do something". 'God Loves You Michael Chang' does come a close second in that department and makes good use of a muted horn hook - a welcome change by that point. 'Love Song 2009' is the Beachboys done solo drunken karaoke style - with gusto and ukulele of course.To criticise this is like trying to be pedantic with a small child yet to reach the age of reason. It is what it is. Some days you may be in the mood for (some of) it, others not. The others will always outnumber the some, and that has to be reflected in the obligatory percentage score. But if it brings a smile and sets you off with some whimsical whistling from time to time then that easily justifies its existence in making the world a tiny bit better a place. 53%Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele on MySpace