The universe finally aligned me with this album. Truth be told I have sat on this for a minute before reviewing it. I downloaded the movie "the Dead Won't Die" at the same time this got on my radar. Simpson has the title track of that soundtrack and there is a movie that also goes with this album, but that is a lot of moving parts so I am going to stick with the music on this album. If you think this is just a country album you are wrong. It opens with a song that sounds like ZZ Top jamming with Pink Floyd. This is a vibe that reoccurs. The vocals are really the only thing that is constantly country. The drums might sound like they are from 90s Alt Rock radio and give a song like "Remember to Breathe" a Billy Squier like feel. This carries over into the more uptempo "Sing Along" . 80's pop ZZ Top is also a fair comparison. A funky bass line propels the brisk "A Good Look".
The 80s pop thing return, with a smooth vocal on " Make Art Not Friends" . The guitar tone could have been lifted from a Cars album. There are more synths on this album than I expected. The guitar riff are pretty powerful to compliment the belted vocals. Even with this "Best Clocker Maker on Mars" does not have the same magic the first half of the album does.It returns for the more country "All Said and Done". Old school cow punk is the driving force behind "Last Man Standing". I am not sure this is his strongest side, though it does not suck by any means. "Mercury in Retrograde"carries pop quirk to it much like the rest of the album. The lyrics are perhaps some of the album's best as they are smart and have a geeky new age charm. He does not do anything vastly difference here, but what he is doing is working .
In some ways the same can be said for "Fastest Horse in Town", but here I get curious as to what they actually songwriting process was . It sounds like this was a country Song that he went back and recorded rock over. Not complaining just wondering, to the point it makes me want to hunt down his PR people and interview him. I will give this album a 10 . The moments that are knocked out of the park are balanced out by the really mind blowing ones.
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