Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Review: Josiah Wolf, Jet Lag


Josiah Wolf
Jet Lag
C+
Josiah Wolf’s Jet Lag is an album released by someone who just got out of an 11 year long marriage; so take one guess at what it’s about. The record is, indeed, a collection of lyrics about post-breakup emotions and nostalgia surrounded by soft indie pop. You can’t blame Wolf for wanting to express himself after such an ordeal, regardless of how cliché an album concept it may be. What you can blame him for is his lack of effectively demonstrating any of the emotions he is so obviously feeling. His attempted catharsis fails to instill any empathy in the listener even though there is boundless potential to do so. The best example of this is in the song “Ohioho.” The song’s rhythmic marimba background and gradually building vocals present the perfect opportunity for an awesome, epic explosion two-thirds through the song. But at this point Wolf simply fades back into his soft acoustic strumming. This failure to “go for it” is present throughout the whole album and leaves a promising record unmemorable.
-- Kevin Lynch
Host, "Don't You Wish We Were NPR," Mondays 8-10 AM on WGTB

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I loved your blog. Thank you.