Chris Hatton — a former member of the jam band League of Proper Musicians — takes a step in a new direction on his solo debut, My New EP. The six-song mini-album begins with the somber "The Milky Way" before heading into the equally pensive "Something to It." They're a slow start, but things pick up on "The Champion," an emotionally draining dirge where Hatton shifts between whispers and screams as he sings "I wish it got better than this" over a noisy guitar riff. The hazy, lazy breakup song "Pictures Frozen in Time" and the snide "You've Become Everything" sound like Jack Johnson, but Hatton manages to distinguish himself from the slack pack. For one thing, you'd never find the obscenity-laced "Facebook Licks My Balls," where Hatton takes on various social media websites, on a Jack Johnson album. — Niesel
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