Boston beat poet Jake Brennan rented a studio in Cambridge, MA, last year,
inviting everyone he knew for a three-day party that doubled as a recording
session. The result was over 50 songs, backed by these Confidence Men and a host
of local musicians, eventually getting trimmed to the 12 tracks pressed on the
debut Love & Bombs. With the exception of an old Ian Hunter tune
(“Original Mixed Up Kid”), everything here is original. The writing is earnest,
that of a true throwback, while the musicianship reeks of barroom Boston at 1:00
am.
While no track strays too far from the next and very little sets a new standard
for the singer/songwriter class, the compositions are snug and, for the most
part, pleasing. The musical styling hops from college radio ditties ala Paul
Westerberg (“Shake ‘Em On Down”) to honky tonkin’ Bottle Rockets spoofs (“Annie
May”), but Brennan’s vocal remains the closest thing to Elvis Costello I’ve
heard. On a Springsteen-like shuffle (“Two of a Kind”), Brennan duets with
unknown Sarah Borges for one of the album’s simple highlights (“just like cheap
wine and cigarettes, apologies and regrets, we go together like match sticks and
gasoline”).
Boasting piano, pedal steel, fiddle and abundant guitars, Love & Bombs
should not leave you wanting more instruments. It’s less striking than the last
Elvis record, but Brennan’s debut outplays anything Evan Dando has done in the
past decade. Unless he throws another studio party and follows this one up in a
timely manner, however, the Confidence Men will be packing their guitars and
vending their wares to the next saloon stud by year’s end. And that’s a safer
bet than the Patriots making the playoffs!
~Red Rocker
redrocker@bullz-eye.com
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