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Sometimes it's the song instead of the singer

R. L. MILLER | FT LAUDERDALE FL USA | 10/30/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dave Frishberg brings to his vocal delivery an ingenuousness that often reminds you of Ben Sidran by way of Allen Sherman. But there's an irony to his songwriting which is more like Mark Russell than either Sherman (whose parodies made him the 'Sixties predecessor to Wierd Al Yankovic) or Sidran's affable coolness. Take the song "My Attorney Bernie", for example. "Bernie" is from the point of view of a man who digs hanging out with his lawyer (there's a cover of this song by a female vocalist--she's dating hers). The unquestioning trust; "Bernie says we sue, we sue. Bernie says we sign, we sign". The awe over the affluent lifestyle--the pair goes out to dinner and Bernie always orders expensive wines, going through the whole ritual; "..waves the glass around, takes a sip, and always sends it back". Deliciously pseudo-naiive or what? Frishberg is by no means a great singer with his conversational baritone, but it's this sort of thing that makes you forget that and focus on the song itself."