One of the great independent singer-songwriters around, the prolific New Yorker and cartoonist returns with his clever, witty, alternative indie-folk, here with an amusing visual play on that famous Bob Dylan album for this brand new LP recorded with his band in just four days at Haptown Studios, Nashville. Jumping between deft finger-picking, the droll and self-deprecatory to the more serious, psychological, socially minded and self-reflective, his live shows are also always unique and refreshing and this latest release continues that trend. From the jauntily amusing and frank opener Do What Comes Natural, which parodies that advice (“‘If I did what comes natural I wouldn’t do nothing, I’d stick my head in an oven”); Movie Date, a gentle, amusing and tender number during which his girlfriend always falls asleep after 30 minutes; the clever list song, recorded live Good Things; to the gentle, droll but melancholic violin accompanied closer The Endless Unknown (“stupid, stupid brain and its dumb smart thoughts…”) it’s filled with rapid fire turn of phrase and warm, intelligent entertainment. Other highlights include the Bonnie & Clyde-style fantasy DCB & ARS, the catchy, rolling indie-rock Sometimes Life Hits You (“like a chisel to the chest”), the brilliantly fast, self-deprecatory Just Fun; and Relaxation’s proggy-psych-anti-folk, with wonderfully slick and sharp lyrics: (“Relaxation is my nemesis/ I'm not a nihilist, that's just how I exist/ Relaxation's the destroying choice/ In which I'd have no voice, and I avoid like poison/ Because relaxation's not a motivation/ It's disintegration, it's annihilation/ An evil twin, I'm not believing in/ And I'm not giving in, 'cause it's oblivion.” Driven by his endless creativity, for him sometimes blessing, sometimes curse, it seems he simply cannot stop, and for that we are eternally grateful. Out on Vintage Voltage.
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