Since the release of his 1977 debut You Think You Really Know Me, home recording pioneer Gary Wilson has been committed to making male sexual insecurity into an art form, unsexiness a reason for endearment. Mannequins, flour, fake blood, and accusing his saxophone player of kissing his girlfriend on the same song he takes a solo are all part of the Gary Wilson legacy, one in which he has managed to turn the genuinely bizarre and charmingly pathetic into artistic triumphs by merit of his musical genius. More than thirty years removed from his landmark album, he’s still addressing the same subject matters and thankfully, conveying them with the same musical deftness. Lisa Wants to Talk to You features the same pseudo-sensual, loungey light funk of his previous outings, and listeners couldn’t ask for more. There’s no denying Wilson’s expertise in crafting beautifully sleazy arrangements with his array of vintage analog synths and his proclivity for ’70s soft rock melodic sensibilities. The audio quality of the recordings, sounding as lo-fi as ever and unaffected by the technological advances of the past three decades, actually aids in making Wilson’s persona – the creepy guy making excessively heartfelt music about his girl problems in his mom’s basement – more believable. The juxtaposition of Wilson’s timorous lyrics and funky, faux-sexy grooves that sound straight out of a grainy, homemade porno works especially well on ‘Mary Won’t You Dance for Me,’ with its synthesized bells, scratchy, direct guitars, and hip-gyrating basslines. Lisa Wants to Talk to You is a fine offering from a truly unique, one-of-a-kind artist that will only serve to strengthen his cult following’s faith in their fearlessly, shamelessly sensitive leader.
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