Like a handful of his similarly compelling peers, John Edward Baumann has the gift of writing smart songs about folks making dumb decisions, and of tempering his youthful gusto with a well-traveled eye for detail, dignity, and world-weariness.  His voice isn’t huge in range or volume, but there’s a lend-me-your-ears earnestness in it that makes it even easier to enjoy provocative numbers about stormy-skulled loners who aren’t sure if they got sucker-punched in the parking lot or just hit the ground due to their own bad habits (“Potter County”).  On his debut EP, he can wax pessimistic about his ex’s marital prospects (“Congratulations”), poke fun at the small-town fundamentalists (“Bible Belt”) or even lampoon his own wish for good luck to fall in his lap (“TV On The Floor”) without sounding vindictive, smug or even pessimistic.  It’s a short record, but it’s no small feat. - Mike Ethan Messick