“This is 13 ephemeral minutes, five songs reminiscent of F.M. Cornog/East River Pipe that left me intrigued and hungry for much more. If you relish the sadder side of Sarah Records or early, 4AD/Crepuscule songwriter albums, Denver’s Sampson is worth your time. The acoustic opener “Song Bird” queasily paves the way for this quintet of purgative, late night confessionals. Indeed, words such as “I want to spend my days on glue” and eerily sincere, yet diffident whispers of “Should give my best, to my love…Something that I should show,” reveal a guy pouring blood from his heart, never mind his sleeve. If music is catharsis, this gently-plucked, slow beast of an EP is Sampson’s way of quietly “baseball bashing” our souls.”

The Big Takeover