Album Notes

Thirteen story songs recorded in a six by ten room in Brooklyn. Tortuga mingles hushed acoustic instruments with drum loops and sampled '78s to create its junk store porch-techno vibe.

The cast of characters include lovesick dishwashers, starfuckers, randy invalids, nail-polish pickers, one-armed boxers, guitar-string suicides, punk-rock farm boys, and a foolish tattoo.

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING

"A perfect late night alone record." - TapeOp 2/1/01

"Too beautiful to be pretty." - Pulse of the Twin Cities 2/1/01

"Tortuga is the best late night companion this side of Tom Waits' Mule Variations." (Three and 1/2 stars out of four)-- Jim Walsh, St. Paul Pioneer Press 11/12/99

"His music suggests some vast new genre of spaghetti-western-techno-gypsy-folk." (Critics Pick) - Zack Dundas, Willamette Week (Portland, OR) 9/20/00

"Griffin's debut Tortuga, puts the singer/songwriter within the ranks of Vic Chesnutt, Elliott Smith and Chris Knox." (Critics Pick) -- Laura Learmonth, Seattle Weekly 9/20/00

"...vivid yarns with a moody, atmospheric intermingling of acoustic guitars and ghostly background noises... a welcome addition to the bedroom [recording] set."
Tad Hendrickson, CMJ 12/20/99

"Stories as vivid as Nick Cave or Tom Waits...This show, and this disc should not be missed. Trust me on this." -David Rangel, Pulse of the Twin Cities, 5/02/99