No Friend. Sin. The Ground

There is a regrettable consensus in modern filmmaking that asserts a film's independent spirit is best maintained by scoring the movie with music that wades through the backwaters of folk. From "Garden State" to "Funny People," most movies contend that someone playing an acoustic guitar and singing (or muttering) moody, esoteric lyrics is the perfect complement to a film desperate to gain authenticity points in the eyes of viewers. Orchestral scores written by actual composers are becoming increasingly rare, supplanted by half-baked Bob Dylan wannabes.

Though his songs have not been featured in any movies, New Jersey's Nathan Carpenter is cut from the same cloth as Iron & Wine, Kimya Dawson and other indie darlings whose stripped-down sound has become the latest staple of soundtracks. Carpenter's newest album, the bizarrely named "No Friend. Sin. The Ground.," is the perfect titular analogy for the 12 tracks contained therein: interchangeable folkie tunes with lyrics that mistake vagueness for profundity.

Carpenter's rough voice owes an obvious debt to Tom Waits, as well as blues singers like Leadbelly and "Blind" Willie Johnson. At times, he seems to borrow a bit too much from his influences, with songs like "Howl" and "Vaudevillian" nearly mimicking Waits's strange vocal affectations. The lyrics are marred by similar unoriginality: Though most of Carpenter's songs draw on traditional rhythm and blues structures, the words dwell in the same purgatory which many prior musicians have tread with more fruitful results. "I'm Gonna Smoke My Problems to the Filter" even has a dated throwaway line referencing "bourgeois city," a none-too-subtle nod to Leadbelly's "Bourgeois Blues."

The stark sound of Carpenter's singing and playing does distinguish him a bit from his more anemic, mopey peers. However, it's hard to elevate one guitar-strumming enigma over another, which is the primary problem facing Carpenter and "The Ground."