I got into a bit of trouble with my outspoken views on Lockdown Acoustic Sets. Some, including fellow writers felt that I was being really unfair and asked what are musicians supposed to do in these strange times. My statements were never against musicians, but on what the results were, even with the circumstances as they were / are.
It was the supposed soulfulness of the sets, rooted in covers and the new songs were all about the lockdown. I just yearned for artists to plug their guitar in and write songs like they did pre Covid. Fortunately people like Ryan Allen had had similar ideas.. He learned how to learn some recording software on the fly, plugged in offered up this DIY gem.
In some ways it would have been a return to his solo beginnings. In the days of Ryan Allen And His Extra Arms, he played everything himself before the expansion into a group. But now, he was stuck at home, with no in studio expertise. However with the creative spark thriving, he had to get these songs down.
The result is very much in Guided By Voices territory. In sing your song and get off mode, these 20 songs last 35 minutes. Some feel fully fledged, others more sketches, but without exception, all work. Allen has always been able to provide riff after riff and developed solo wise from a noisier Nick Piunti to a much harder band sound. He's always been able to flit through both, so there's no surprise that there is a fair amount of genre hopping.
The gentleness of Here Comes The Rain contrasts with the pure noise of Throw Your Shit In The Shoot. There are also moments of real reflective joy in the Lennon Pop of the likes of I'm A Wizard Now. Metal Youth is real 90's Indie College Rock and Alone In The Sick is splendid Psych Pop. Predict The Future is lo-fi New York Power Pop and Luke Warm has one of Allen's trademark killer riffs.
Two songs especially stand out for me. For all the variety, Inventive Sports is more like a trademark Ryan Allen song, wonderfully so. Airbrush The World is absolutely Top Notch with an extended wig out to close. Remember there is a reason why the album is titled Song Snacks. The album is like a buffet and demonstrates what Allen can do. Highly Recommended!
You can listen to and buy the album here.
.......................
No comments:
Post a Comment