Neither here nor there
W.A. Fite lives in Dallas, but he’s signed to the Dallas/OKC record label Hand Drawn Records. His “Poisoning the Medicine Tree” is an album of gritty electronic pop with a modern-rock singer over it. He follows a less-traveled path through electronic music: This is not the subtle indie pop of The Postal Service, the sunshiny pop of Owl City, or dance-oriented electro. This is forceful, rock-oriented, electronic music that sort of sounds like the pseudo-electronic experiments of Bush (“Glycerine”), thanks to both the vocals and the song structures. “Beating Thomas Best” and “Jack” are immediate standouts, while the mellower “Carney’s Lake” kicks off the quieter, more experimental back half. “That Ain’t the Way” is a piano rumination, showing his diversity.
