Doesn’t sound like singer/guitarist Clint Pigg feels too good about himself, to judge from his album’s opening title track. Introducing himself by name, he claims to be a zombie with “no blood in my arteries, no feel in my extremities,” someone who always takes the blame, and generally a guy you’d want to keep away from. But to judge from the punchy blues-rock on the album, he’s a bit more of a winner than he thinks.

They say that you put your whole life into your first album, and Pigg’s debut is the proof. There are songs here about his father’s passing, taking stock of past relationships, his daughter’s decision to reassign gender, his own transition to middle age—and about the apparent fact that nobody uses turn signals on Esplanade. He comes up with something interesting to say about each of those topics; the one about his daughter (“All I Have”) successfully navigates some tricky lyrical territory; as does “Am I Ready”, a non-depressing song about getting older. The closing “Use Your Blinker” is the most lighthearted thing here and sounds like a WWOZ hit waiting to happen—as does “Craps,” a funk tune about the lure of gambling.

Recorded largely without outside help, this disc is effectively a demo for his songwriting. The vocals are considerably less polished than the guitar playing, and there are times when he avoids playing a solo when the track could use one (the solos he does take are melodic and non-flashy). But the songs are there, and if he does wind up doing a band, he’s got the material to work with.