Since I enjoyed In The Woods… and the recent album from the Still Opprør project of guitarist Christian Cederberg, I was quite interested to see what his former bandmate Jan Transeth’s new band Transit sounded like after reading several online reviews describing it as something far removed from his experimental base. Indeed, In The Woods… fans may well be stunned when opening track Estrangeiro/New Man reveals itself to be not just tinged but virtually covered in American(a) influences, sounding little removed instrumentally from Bob Dylan’s last album. Another artist that sounds quite similar is Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, having that same backwoods bar style. It’s enjoyable if, like me, you’re a fan of the aforementioned influences, but any Progressive elements are well hidden. Bleed On Me could be performed by Queens Of The Stone Age if they were more into Indie Rock, whilst there’s little difference between You And Me And Then Some and The White Stripes.

The trouble with this kind of music is that there’s so much of it, and the songs on Decent Man… aren’t anywhere near good enough to make this a vital purchase. Sure, if you listen to the album several times and get used to it then you’ll enjoy it more than you won’t, but why not simply chase down that Dylan or Bad Seeds album that’s missing from your collection? As it is, Transit will be of interest to few. There are moments of interest, obviously, the closing Ad Anima trilogy of songs wandering off the beaten path, and Transeth’s voice is great, just weathered enough to be uncommercial yet with enough range to be interesting. Tracks such as Miller Song have an emotional impact, layered as they are with just a hint of keyboards, and there’s enough catchiness flying around to make it a decent listen.

All in all, however, when compared against the rather fantastic S.o2 album from Still Opprør, Decent Man… suffers, and if you’re only going to buy one of them, then Transit have nothing to recommend them over the other. Still, this is far from dreadful, and ultimately is a brave yet unadventurous experiment that shows off Transeth’s experience as a musician well.