Thursday, January 21, 2010

First Listen: Freedy Johnston, Rain on the City

It's been eight years since Freedy Johnston released an album of original songs. (His covers album, My Favorite Waste of Time, came out in 2008.) You may expect that the resulting record would give you some hint of where all that time went.

But Rain on the City is just a standard Johnston record - light, breezy, modest, simple and heartwarming. Some songs are acoustic, some electric. Some are twangy, some more straightforward rock. All have elegantly-written lyrics about love and life. None of them are particularly memorable.

I have no idea what took Freedy so long to make this album, but it sounds like it could have come out six weeks after his last one. I like Freedy, and this record is just fine - harmless, but fine. But nothing here is as good as "Bad Reputation," from all those years ago, and nothing here should make you want to rush out and buy this.

1 comment:

  1. "Bad Reputation" is definitely up there! If you are looking for some fresh faces in the singer/ songwriter world, check out Kelley Ryan. She is about to release her new album "Twist". Don Dixon plays on and produced the album and Marti Jones sings vocals. To top it all off she is offering her album for only $1 until the official release of Feb. 16. Below is her website:

    http://www.kelleyryan.net

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