Search - Adam Marsland :: You Don't Know Me

Genius at work

Futsal Guy | Tokyo, Japan | 01/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Do you like songs -- lovingly, wickedly, intelligently crafted tunes that bear up under countless listens? This one's the ticket. It's not that big a surprise because Marsland's former band Cockeyed Ghost had an apotheosis with "Ludlow 6:18" and now Adam has taken the torch and gone even one step further.



Some have mentioned references such as Elton John and Steely Dan, and to be sure there are odd bits of pop lore floating around in here, but Marsland has the kind of originality that defies easy comparisons.



The voice sounds a bit untrained at first blush but is actually versatile, emotive and addicting. And the lyrics -- I mean, who cares about lyrics normally, right? -- are savagely witty. Can anybody else sing "what the world needs now is a good deux ex machina" and "control-alt-delete," and have them sound not only great but musical?

All the pieces fit together in songs that are quirky, memorable and shear bliss to listen to. This is the best album I've heard in a good while.

"