Former Chokebore frontman Troy von Balthazar takes a wide array of influences from Polyphonic Spree, to Modest Mouse, to Yes, to The Thrills, and puts it all into an album that is something more complex than the gentle vibes lead on. Balthazar’s trembles and warbles at all the appropriate moments and never fails on anything. The lyrics take on a poetic tilt at points, but at other times lead to nothing more than headshaking, with the nonsensical “To the Girl with One Wing Gone” being the prime culprit. There are some highpoints, like the beautiful opening track “CATT” or the marvelous lo-fi “Wings.” But then at other points the album goes off the rails with experimentation like the jarring “Santiago.”

Troy von Balthazar is a truly skilled musician, but How to Live on Nothing is an uneven effort. There are moments of unbridled musical brilliance that are followed up with moments of spine-chilling listening, with most of the middle third of the album going off the rails until its salvaged by “Wings.” This is an album with flashes of greatness paired with equal flashes of non-brilliance, leaving a just ever so slightly better-than-decent album in its wake. That isn’t to say Troy van Balthazar isn’t talented. It’s just to say How to Live on Nothing is too uneven to fully show off how talented he really is.

(Third Side Records, 16 Rue de la Folie Méricourt, 75011 Paris, France)