DIRTY IMPOUND ALBUM OF THE WEEK
[great new review from classic US web zine]
Dennis’ Pick of the Week:
Vinny Peculiar: Other People Like Me [Shadrack & Duxbury Records]
This one’s a stunner. It’s a great joy when all the promise and bright flashes in an artist bloom in happy fruition. Such is the case with Other People Like Me(released September 5), where Peculiar fulfills all the echoes of Ian Hunter, Robyn Hitchcock and Nick Lowe in his earlier work by becoming a peer to these greats. Just a hair over a half hour, this is a perfect album – and I don’t fling a word like ‘perfect’ around carelessly. The arc of this song cycle is utterly pleasing, each chapter artfully assembled, jammed with memorable verses and bookended by the right compatriots. Vinny cranks up the electric guitar a bit here, and it’s nothing but good for his music, adding an early Eno-esque touch in places and generally giving things pointier teeth to gnaw at the world. He’s a smart fellow and perhaps as big a fan as any serious music writer or record shop clerk, name checking the likes of Bryan Ferry & Howard Devoto and giving modern artists Christo & Jeanne-Claude get their own tune. His affections are exposed and sincere, yet threaded with a dark edged wit, an element that runs through his career. More simply, he’s often funny as hell if you’re bright enough to keep up with him. That he makes this art-wise stuff dance in pop outfits is impressive – his ideas may be weighty but his execution of them never is – and he’s got Morrisey’s gift for making lyrics swing that just shouldn’t work. It all comes together for Mr. Peculiar on Other People Like Me, the culmination of a decade in the trenches and a jolting harbinger of what the next 10 years may hold. (Dennis Cook)
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