I Oughta Be In Movie (Trailers)

Abrupt Decision: A Film by Paul Bright
(Featuring me as "Dr Pyramid"

My Amazon Reviews: The Raconteurs "Broken Boy Soliders"

Are You Steady Now
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Pegging "Broken Boy Soldiers" as a Jack White album would be depriving yourself of some really rocking power-pop. Those other guys - Vocalist Brendan Benson, drummer Patrick Keeler and bassist Jack Lawrence - aren't household name enough to really call this a super-group, but they are old buddies. In fact, only Benson has had what one calls any serious success as a writer performer prior to this, and mainly as a power-popper with a serious fetish for classicist 60's pop. Which is what makes "Broken Boy Soldiers"  and The Raconteurs so interesting; it indulges White in some cool 60's psychedelic pop (the title song) as well as shakes Benson loose from his usual mode (especially on the initial single, "Steady As She Goes").

What BBS also does is show what White can do when expanded out from the confines of The White Stripes. The Raconteurs have some serious muscle, and they flex it well. They also are smart enough to to overwork the issue, as the album clocks in at barely a half hour and 10 songs total. It's also cool to note just how well Benson and White blend as singers, making some of the pop harmonies here positively charming. On the other hand, given the way White bent the landscape for The White Stripes, you won't hear anything earth-shattering on BBS. (Given how radically the follow-up, "Consolers of The Lonely" would veer towards more raucous guitar rock, the traditionalism of "Broken Boy Soldiers" is even more surprising for its normalcy.) What you get is a solidly created power-pop rocker that holds its own against all of White's over projects, as well as gives Benson a little more street cred.

   

My Amazon Reviews: Gavin DeGraw "Sweeter"

Sweetness Follows
3 Out Of 5 Stars

Gavin DeGraw makes it to his fourth album. pretty much covering the same turf as his first three. He's still milking the same blue-eyed soul turf that has made stars out of Jason Mraz currently and Daryl Hall decades before. What differentiates "Sweeter" from his other CD's is that he decided to allow co-writers on-board for the first time. On of them, Ryan Tedder, has been all but certified as the current Midas Touch-man, ala Mick Ronson. Tedder is also the producer of those two songs, emphasizing the piano and making the title song sound tougher than it really is. Andrew Frampton also produces/cowrites a pair, "Run Every Time" and the closer, "Spell It Out."

What strikes me as most interesting is that, on his own, DeGraw comes off as a piano-man worshiping at the alter of Billy Joel and Elton John (especially on "You Know Where I'm At"). Not a bad well to draw from, and when it turns up songs like "Radiation" or "Soldier," worth the effort. On the more annoying and overworked "Candy," not so much. What I'd love to hear more of, though, is the solo DeDraw that sits behind his piano and lets loose with "Spell It Out," which does away with overproduction and just lets the man sing and play. My guess is DeGraw is too slick a salesman to want to be that exposed too often, but it's the highlight of an otherwise light pop album.