Search - Howie Beck :: How to Fall Down in Public

A pleasant-enough appetizer, but not an entree

armenianthunder | los angeles | 05/20/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For starters, considering how non-prolific Howie Beck has been (this is his third release since his 1997 debut), I was keenly suspicious that this album would be, at 9 songs and 31 minutes, too short to truly to be as satisfying as 1999's Hollow and 2004's self-titled masterpiece had. Still, "Watch Out for the Fuzz" is a convincing opener with a bouncy melody. The harder-edged "Don't Put Your Arms Around Me No More" and the loping "If I Ever Come Home" are other winners, matching bitter lyrical heartache to irresistible tunes, much like kindred musical spirits Elliott Smith and the Pernice Brothers do. The set-ending "Beside This Life" (a torchy ballad that recalls Rufus Wainwright) brings the album to a satisfying end. The overall sound is, of course, immaculate and intricately arranged, but much of the rest of the album isn't as memorable, which is only a problem because of the album's brevity. Waiting four or five years between releases tends to build expectations, but that worked against him this time around."