Comparisons to Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello ARE indeed inevitable. That much is true. Not for being ‘reflexively literate’ as the admission of guilt from the press release states, but because he sounds alternately like each of them, almost to the point of exactitude. That said, the stunning likeness is such that tracks like ‘Baby Bye Bye’ (our Bob) ‘Eva’ (our Elvis) ‘Don’t Make Me Leave’, ‘I Need You’ (our Bob) and ‘Jane’ (our Elvis) are as approximate to the melodic and lyrical genius of the pair as they are to the husky, whining nasal passages. Great tunes, great delivery, great words.
Tinkling saloon bar pianos, the buzz of an electric guitar, the robust strike of a battered acoustic, the softened drums and cymbal brushes – production not unlike Dylan, but then it’s not unlike the similarly blue-collar poet, Bruce Springsteen’s earlier output either. Whilst a little too reflexive, too self-conscious and a little too steeped in historicity to ever match the immortal glory of tracks like ‘Thunder Road’ they share that same sepia-toned celebration the moment – the simple yet profound – and the sweet returning drive of instant nostalgia. Label brethren, The Mendoza Line have it, Dan Bern’s ‘Fleeting Days’ has it – and though it would be way too easy to label it some kind of crumbling Americana, that’s essentially how it seems; cynical yet retrospective, faithful but uncertain.
Some duff tracks, admittedly but it’s a solid and often humorous strike to the heart, and worth buying if only for the marvellously witty riposte to all that’s spurious and insincere in music: the penultimate song on the album, ‘Graceland’.