SONGS FOR ULAN - You Must Stay Out

Pietro De Cristofaro, born in Naples in 1970, is the main name behind the Songs For Ulan project. After a solo debut under his own name ("Reverse", 2001) that met with little success either commercially or critically, in 2003 Pietro decided to put himself in the hands of Cesare Basile's artistic and production skills, and together with a few friends formed this band, quickly releasing a self-titled debut EP.

"You Must Stay Out", which despite its short running time can still be considered the debut album proper, follows the grooves already laid down by its predecessor: folk-rock ballads with a dry, desert-like tone, shot through with streaks of twisted blues or frontier alt-country colouring, the lead vocal always kept front and centre, far more pronounced than the musical textures accompanying it.

A record of ballads, then, whose touchstones might be Mark Lanegan on the livelier tracks (the cadences of "The Counting Song", the electric bursts and reverb of "Little", or the heavy, dark-stepping blues of "On My Hand"), but also the best of Ryan Adams, in the sweet resignation of the opening title track.

In the light, plucked folk of "3 Submarines" or the banjo, piano and string melancholy of "Somebody Else Do It", we can also find ties to the more subdued, nostalgic sides of Jeff Tweedy and Mark Linkous, while the distant echoes of tense desolation in "No More, No Less" bring to mind Steve Von Till's solo work.

De Cristofaro & friends' work has several strengths: "You Must Stay Out" sustains a steady intensity throughout, which pushes lesser episodes like the ballad "Julie" and the little waltz of "A Present" (with an accordion that, I imagine, is aiming for Waits-ian but ends up closer to Modena City Ramblers) into the background; the tracks are all original compositions bar the cover of "Secret Fires", once belonging to Jeffrey Lee Pierce, and all more than respectable, Pietro's voice shows real personality, and the musical backdrops - particularly certain guitar electrifications courtesy of Basile and illustrious guest Hugo Race - work perfectly.

If one wanted to pick out flaws, it could be noted that there are no truly outstanding moments, no songs that leap out and offer something extra, and, more seriously, the running time is too short; it's not so much a question of overall length (a shade over 35 minutes) as of the length of the individual tracks, several of which end giving the impression of being unfinished, as though the ending had been faded out (or simply cut).

Taken as a whole, though, the record stands as a strong effort that fans of a certain brand of folk-rock songwriting won't fail to appreciate, a work that shows ambition and confidence, and one that confirms Pietro De Cristofaro and his Songs For Ulan as a fine presence on the current scene, well worth keeping an eye on in the future.

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22/12/2006