Slightly Sorry opens with Pat Gubler cranking a drone from the hurdy-gurdy he’s pictured with on the back cover. It sets expectations high for some free-form folk music, and indeed, Gubler's history with Matt Valentine in NYC avant collective Tower Recordings fuels thoughts of interstellar odes to Jandek. Forty-five seconds into the disc, however, the hurdy-gurdy gives way to delicate and precise acoustic-guitar figures. By the time Gubler starts singing on the second track, “The Dance,” a very different concept has come into view. His voice echoes with a distinct ’70s singer-songwriter vibe, and the heavy use of electric piano reinforces that sensibility. Production by Sue Garner (Run On, the Shams, Fish and Roses) complements P.G. Six’s classic sound with a mix that wouldn’t sound out of place on smooth ’70s rock radio. Gubler yields the lead vocal to Helen Rush for “The End of Winter,” but his straightforward, laid-back delivery — even on up-tempo numbers like “I’ve Been Traveling” — is what sets the mood here. By the time the hurdy-gurdy returns, you realize its use in the introduction was an imitation of the sound of an orchestra tuning up rather than a doorway to an experimental folk excursion.
