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Nick Pipitone:
Anything I Want to Say EP
Nick Pipitone sings almost exactly like Graham Parker. This vocal similarity is, in fact, downright scary. And while its convenient for listeners to have such a handy musical reference point, Pipitones Parker-isms may also prevent one from truly appreciating the singer/songwriters conspicuous individuality. Yes, Pipitone can say anything he wants to say, but he mostly says it in a Parker-esque way here. For those of you too young to remember a few English performers that were referred to as the Angry Young Men back in the late 70s, Graham Parker entered the scene along with an exciting group that also included Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. And while both Costello and Jackson have mellowed considerably over the years, Parker has kept his vitriol content level relatively high since then. Sure, hes also recorded a few albums for the alt-country label Bloodshot of late, but this is by no means your fathers laid back country music. Parkers new twang is still quite tart, so it carefully preserves his harsh, black underbelly. But I digress. Lets get back to Pipitone. Even though his voice is a bit of a phlegm-thrower, Pipitones instrumental backing balances out his musical presentation with a welcome touch of sonic gentleness. For instance, Nervous Breakdown has a bit of a Beatles-like, keyboard pop feel to it. The songs lyric is a reaction to information overload: I dont want to think/Im on the brink of a nervous breakdown, he protests. Elsewhere during the tune he admits, I wish I was some kind of savant. As with most pop artists, the opposite sex is the primary suspect in most nervous breakdown cases. Even though Pipitone is almost certain that hes found the ultimate mate when he sings The Perfect Girl, he is forced to admit that such reciprocation is oftentimes difficult to come by after he gets to One Way Street. It may be difficult to get past Pipitones Parker characteristics here, but this EP is still a strikingly memorable work no matter what it happens to sound like.
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