THE HIGH art of lo-fi music is an acquired and cultist taste. Making an impact without the safety net of a gleaming studio production requires strong songs and personality.

Detractors argue that most people can strum a guitar in the style of Lisa from Friends, so how did these people land a recording contract? Toby Burke's first solo album is a case in point. Whereas his last album with his band Horse Stories covered up his developing songwriting with some emotive band playing, here his under-developed tunes are cruelly exposed. His pleasantly keening voice is just not enough.

In stark contrast, Hayden has a scruffy charm that immediately appeals. Whereas Burke is winsome but without substance, Hayden has paid his dues in songwriting school and his character-based songs have some interesting twists. His dogged determination to stay lo-fi is unfortunate, because when he broadens his repertoire on Home By Saturday and Robbed Blind, the results are successful.

While Hayden can fade into the background, there is no such danger with Jawbone's raw acoustic blues. Amplified harmonica, foot thumping guitar and screechy blues hollers and shouts are immediately distinctive, taking you back to an era before blues turned slick. Deliberately badly recorded, fans of the White Stripes and RL Burnside will cut a path to where Bob Zabor will surely be busking. Another star, albeit dim, has emerged in the glimmering Detroit sky.

Updated: 08:37 Thursday, October 07, 2004