This next album is the third out
of the last eight that after reviewing I am letting go. I need to be more picky at the record store.
Disc 1030 is…Modern Pressure
Artist: Daniel
Romano
Year of Release: 2017
What’s up with the Cover? The washed out Giant Head of
Daniel Romano stars blankly into the distance as it overshadows a full-bodied
Daniel Romano climbing an old stairwell. Much like the album itself, there’s
too much going on for this picture to work.
How I Came To Know It: I had some good luck on Daniel
Romano albums lately so when he released a new one earlier this year I took a
chance on it.
How It Stacks Up: I have five Daniel Romano albums, and must
reluctantly put “Modern Pressure” in last place – or fifth, if you’re big on
participation ribbons. I’m not.
Ratings: 2 stars
Daniel Romano
is a gifted songwriter with a penchant for taking risks, and these qualities can
make for some pretty cool music. Yet even the most creative artists can drown
themselves in their own self-absorption. This is what happens on “Modern
Pressure.”
Romano was
already walking on the edge of danger coming into this record. His voice and
delivery are heavily reminiscent of Bob Dylan, but while Romano flirts heavily
with Dylan’s sixties sound, he usually puts together songs with his own creative
twist, simultaneously playing the role of throwback and innovator. It can work,
but it’s a dangerous game.
On “Modern
Pressure” all the right elements are present, including Romano’s innate talent
to write a catchy folk song with a Byrd-like rock twist, but he makes a host of
poor decisions from there. It is the musical equivalent of taking the wrong
exit off the highway and then trying to compensate by going down a dozen
switch-back country roads, all the while refusing to admit you’re not even in the
right town.
The
title track is a good example. It is pretty enough but it felt like I was
listening to someone imagining what “Dylan: the Basement Tapes II – The Undiscovered
Basement Tapes” would sound like. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t anything special.
For all
that, Romano is worse when he tries to make it interesting. I should have been
nervous when on the opening track “Ugly
Human Heart Pt. 1” (yes, there are two parts) Romano throws a discordant
drum beat over top of what is otherwise a passable song. I’m not sure why he
does it. Because the drum beat is like an ugly human heart? Get it? Get it? If
that’s all it is, then yes I get it, but it doesn’t make it good.
When I
reviewed his previous album “Mosey” back at Disc 953 I noted that while
there is a lot of self-indulgence, there are enough high points to counter the
missteps. On “Modern Pressure” the reverse is true. The dividing line is Romano’s
insistence to take the best songs on the record and then wreck them for the
sake of showing you that he can.
“The Pride of Queens” is a beautiful
track. Half folk song and half alt-rock guitar anthem, this song has a
beautiful build from sixties Dylan sound to a crunchy guitar that defies you to
not play air guitar on the bus (sorry, fellow bus passengers). Then Romano
inexplicably tags on a coda of thirty seconds of what-the hell at the end. This
includes some weird thumping bass-line that sounds like it was produced on a
lap-top Casio. It is not even the same song, appears for no apparent reason,
and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of what up to that point I had
thoroughly enjoyed.
“Jennifer Castle,” is a rolling romance
with some inspiring guitar picking. Even Romano’s vocals, which were never his
strong suit, are clear and heartfelt. I don’t even mind the fade out…but then
it fades back in, again to a different song. During this second movement, Romano
delivers a minute of what I think is a critique of artificiality in love songs.
Some choice lines from this “hidden” track that he’s tacked on:
“…Yes, and you’re all pushing the
same trash
And I just don’t believe it
‘Cause there’s a lack of
sincerity
In the words you’re trying to
write
Fake love songs”
And:
“Yes, you’re cheapening the
sentiment
That you’re trying to make to
them
Just another fake love song.
Goodness artificialized”
Romano
sabotages his own song for the sake of what? To prove that there is artificiality
in love songs? Because to me, what he does here is a prime example. Or is that
the point, some kind of endless art-comments-on-itself feedback loop? Again I
get it, but it doesn’t make it good.
Of the
album’s three best songs, only “When I
Learned Your Name” is left unblemished by some kind of self-conscious
meta-commentary. Unfortunately, at only 2:23 in length, that just wasn’t enough
here to make up the difference.
To be
fair, this album is better than you’d think based on this review. There is a
lot of genuinely pretty music here, with some thoughtful writing from Romano,
and some top-notch guitar playing. However in the constant attempt to rebel
against himself, Romano ends up on a narrow ledge where there’s only room for
him, and not his audience. Not surprisingly, there is no room for this CD on my
CD shelf as a result.
Best tracks: 90% of the Pride of Queens, When
I Learned Your Name, 80% of Jennifer Castle
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