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John Austin: Busted at the Pearly Gates
John
Austins Busted at the Pearly Gates is a twenty-song-long album that
deserves a complete and focused listen. Its light, cheerful and happy opening
tracks lead to more melancholy moments and somber lyrics at the albums
conclusion. Though this desultory style was a bit distractive at first,
the songs overall have an energetic and seductive quality that provide good
musical company. John Austin seems to easily sing about lifes lessons or
stories of his own experiences, though the album does not end up being heavily
personal in nature. A newcomer will
be able to find some way to relate to many songs in this collection and will be
hearing his bewitching tunes long after the music has stopped. The peppy,
opening tune Roll the Stone Away kept my attention and made me come back
for another listen. It rolled into
Cool Morning, Your Generation and other bright and happy tunes on
most of the tracks. These Things Take Time is a thoughtful and meaningful
tune done in a jazzy blues style, which carries through to a few other tracks. Austin adds some country flair in Lost Little Gumdrop
and Good Money. His ability to personify everyday things like misery, is
totally engaging in a Buffet-style tune called Misery Loves Company. Not obvious
at first, he took a serious song entitled Son of a Gun and revisited it
three different times on three different tracks on the CD!
One of these totally dissolved into a super tune called Love Preys
which became one of my favorites interesting technique. There is
such imagery drawn into Austins songs that some of the music on this disc
could successfully accompany any number of movies with rich scenery and a car
traveling on an open stretch of highway. The lyrics are deep and interesting,
telling stories of love, death, and lifes philosophies, which may be why
television and the movies strike me as other outlets for this hopefully growing
talent.
This album can be purchased at Insound. LEFT OFF THE DIAL's John Austin Page About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
