CD Reviews

John Wesley Harding | The Sound of His Own Voice

Yep Roc (2011)

By NICK A. ZAINO III | October 12, 2011

3.5 Stars

It's fitting that John Wesley Harding's new album is bookended by tributes to songwriting and music — "Sing Your Own Song" and "The World in Song." It's clear that Harding is having the time of his life writing and playing on this collection. His words are sharp, and the music is often bright and poppy, even if the stories aren't. Perhaps it has something to do with his long-running Cabinet of Wonders variety show. Harding sounds invigorated and in great humor. He's recorded with friends and compatriots here — the Decemberists and Peter Buck are the main backing band, with assists from producer Scott McCaughey, Rosanne Cash, Laura Veirs, and John Roderick — and the fun they had shines through. "Uncle Dad" sounds like the theme song to some dysfunctional sitcom about kids and divorce. "I Should Have Stopped" is a melancholic reminiscence of lost love but with plenty of humor and warmth. And it's hard to resist the obvious charms of Harding's take on gentrification, "There's a Starbucks (Where the Starbucks Used To Be)." It's also heartening to hear a songwriter embrace his intelligence and vocabulary like this: "They're as sharp as Occam's razor/as subtle as Aquinas/They define us and refine us with their beta-query-minus." What's better than tuneful, intelligent fun?

Trans Am | What Day Is It Tonight? Trans Am Live, 1993 - 2008
Trans Am are distillers of guilty pleasures, mixing fat AOR riffs with sleazy electronic accents and a propulsive attitude typically reserved for arcade soundtracks. What Day Is It Tonight? covers the DC-area band’s 20-year history with high-quality, high-energy live cuts taken from their many tours.
Various Artists | Where the Action Is: Los Angeles Nuggets 1965 - 1968
More than three years in the making, the most recent installment of Rhino's legendary archival garage-rock series offers an amazingly comprehensive excavation of an absurdly fertile scene.
Various Artists | Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat & Bossa Nova 1966–1970
Girl-group records are great and everything, yet the countless compilations out there were becoming a little hit-or-miss until 2005, when the great Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found box set finally gave this diverse genre a proper taxonomy.
Various Artists | Casual Victim Pile: Austin 2010
The notion that regional musical flavors exist independently in American cities is quickly becoming an archaic truism, seeing as how the world really is a stage these days, at least in the digital sense.
Bearstronaut | Broken Handclaps
There's a distinct absence of wildlife or astronauts on Lowell electronica quartet Bearstronaut's latest release.
Avi Buffalo | Avi Buffalo
Look, I get it: the last thing we need right now is yet another band who can be described as “sun-baked,” “reverb-soaked,” or even just “psychedelic.” But Avi Buffalo (I know! An animal name to boot!) are worth your attention for a few reasons.
Review: Brandon Flowers | Flamingo
Brandon Flowers has gone on record saying he brought the songs on Flamingo to his fellow bandmates for the next Killers album and was given the brush-off.
Review: Kevin Dunn | No Great Lost: Songs 1979–1985
Casa Nueva Industries (2010)
Review: Crocodiles | Sleep Forever
With remarkable swiftness, Crocodiles tick off all the key characteristics of a band in the thriving lo-fi indie/punk/garage scene.
Review: Teengirl Fantasy | 7AM
If the demise of traditional record making is designed to foster any band’s fruitful existence, it’s that of Teengirl Fantasy.
Review: Screaming Females | Castle Talk
Screaming Females are one of those rare examples of a band who fester so long in the dark — in this case, the teeming basements of New Brunswick, New Jersey — that they sour into something great by the time anyone’s heard of them.
Less

Topics: CD Reviews , Music, John Wesley Harding, John Wesley Harding, More

| More

Most Popular

The Current Issue

Table of Contents

Cover Archive

Masthead | Authors | Contact us

Blogs

Where To Follow Me
Talking Politics | March 24, 2013 at 11:09 AM

Mo Takes His Turn
March 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM

[Q&A] KMFDM's Sascha Konietzko on art, Columbine and having balls
On The Download | March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM

See this film series: The Belmont World Film Series @ Studio Cinema in Belmont
Outside The Frame | March 18, 2013 at 11:00 AM

See this film: This is Spinal Tap [with post-film talk by expert from Acoustical Society of America] @ the Coolidge
March 17, 2013 at 12:00 PM

ARTICLES BY NICK A. ZAINO III

SCHOOLTREE'S NO LAUGHING MATTER | March 13, 2013
It takes a certain kind of courage to get onstage and make people laugh.

MIKE COOLEY | THE FOOL ON EVERY CORNER | January 08, 2013
A Mike Cooley solo album is a treat for Drive-By Truckers fans.

PATTERSON HOOD SIDESTEPS HIS TRUCKER MOUTH | September 11, 2012
Rock and roll once saved Patterson Hood's life.

GLEN HANSARD | RHYTHM & REPOSE | September 13, 2012
The Frames' Glen Hansard releases Rhythm & Repose, his first solo album, having created an unusual juggernaut with Once .

RYAN MONTBLEAU COMES HOME WITH AN ACCENT | June 19, 2012
It's a sleepy Monday night in April, and Ryan Montbleau is taking advantage of a rare opportunity to get out and see some friends and hear some music.