Side A
The album kicks off with “Rob
Me Blind,” and immediately we get the sense of how important vivid characters
are in this band’s songwriting, and how these characters have stories to tell
us. The first time I listened to this song, the lines that stood out for me were
“I wasn’t much to look at then, and I ain’t
much better now/But you love me anyhow.” I like that there is a pause
before “But you love me anyhow,” for
it gives that line more emphasis, more meaning. Ah yes, this song ends up being
a sweet love song of sorts. “Whoever said
crime don’t pay/Has probably never seen your face on a sunny day.” That’s
followed by “Shows What I Knew,” which has a harder edge from the start. “I never thought in a million years/There’d
be anything left that you would need to prove/Shows what I knew.” Then
toward the end, unexpectedly, it becomes a song you might find yourself singing
along with. “We’re gonna be good boys
like our brothers/We’re gonna be good girls like our mothers.”
Mike Giacolino joins the band
on harmonica for “Could’ve Told Me Then,” and I absolutely love his work here.
His presence is felt and appreciated from the very beginning, and helps to
make this one of my personal favorites. This track has a lively country rock
sound, and an excellent vocal performance. This is a song about a couple heading
out on the road together. “We packed up
everything we had, headed out east on the ten/And if you knew you’d never love
me, well, you could have told me then.” I also love these lines: “And I know you never made me any promises/And
I could have done so much better to win your heart/As the years go by, it seems
to me it’s getting colder each spring/I’m trying to keep busy, but I haven’t
done a thing.” This is a seriously good song, and I highly recommend
checking it out.
All The Real Girls is a band
with ties to the movies. Its name comes from a 2003 film starring Patricia
Clarkson, Zooey Deschanel and Paul Schneider. And Peter Donovan has some
experience in the film industry himself, having acted, directed and produced,
as well as written music for a film. So perhaps it is no surprise that this
band would refer in some way to films in these tracks. “Movie Star Handsome,”
the album’s title track, features some fantastic lyrics. Check out these lines:
“I’ll let you go and break my heart/I’ll
let you tear that sacred muscle apart/And swallow the spark/Build a cage in the
dark.” I particularly love that line “I’ll
let you tear that sacred muscle apart,” such a strong and powerful image, a
more graphic description that is incredibly effective. But my favorite line in
this song is “And I’ll write your name
with claw marks in the sky.” Wow, these guys can create some memorable and
striking phrases. This is certainly another of the album’s strongest tracks. It
features Eric Corson on slide guitar. The first side of the record then
concludes with “Wolves,” which begins softly on piano. “And we’ve heard there’s wolves at the door and they want in.” After
that line, the song kicks in, and includes some frightening and depressing
lines, like “And I guess we’ve read our
last book/We’ve danced our last two-step, we sung our last hook/And we’ve seen
the scoundrels and crooks, they always win.” This is a powerful and
stirring song.
Side B
The second side of the record
then begins with a cheerful-sounding tune, “Empty Glass Of Ice.” The lyrics,
however, contrast with that tone, and are about a nasty breakup (“You sold my favorite records and threw my
clothes out on the lawn”), leading the man to drink by himself at a bar
until closing time. Yet for him there is still hope. And the song has some
humor, in lines like “I think I’d better
call you, then I think I’d better not/I think it’s time somebody took me home.”
Yes, it’s a country song about drinking, and it features some nice work by Ed
Brooks on pedal steel, which adds that great lonesome feel to it. There is some
clapping at the end, however, which quickly dispels that sense that this poor
guy is alone. I would have cut that. That’s followed by “Hometown Hero.” This
one too has a rather bright sound, and is more of a rock song, with some lines
that work in contrast, such as “I wake up
crying most nights” and “I’m a
shipwreck, I’m a ghost.”
“Brother Brian” opens with a
punch, a strong beat, which works well with its subject, which includes bombs
and death. I love the surprising addition of horns to this exciting song. Samantha
Boshnack is on trumpet, and Chris Credit is on saxophone. Then in “Do Your
Worst,” Peter Donovan sings, “I want to
live forever/I want to watch the sands of times roll by/I want us to be
together/So do your worst to me tonight.” An unusual declaration of love,
eh? I love it. I also love this line: “They
say you’ve got a mouth on you, it’s full of razor blades.” Interestingly,
some nice female backing vocals by Amanda Winterhalter help to create the sense
of this being a sweet love song. This track is another of the record’s
highlights. The record then wraps up with “Your Favorite Songs,” another
unusual love song. Check out these lines: “If
you want to be the captain of a ship/I’ll carve you out an ocean and build a
boat in it.” This is perhaps the album’s more interesting track. It pulls
you in, and there is something undeniably beautiful about it. Certainly part of
that is Jacqueline Ryall’s presence on cello. After the line “But we’ll be strong somehow,” the song
kicks in, which is perfect. “I’ll lie and
say it gets better/I’ll tell you there’s a light at the end/But you don’t need
my pity.”
Record Track List
Side A
- Rob Me Blind
- Shows What I Knew
- Could’ve Told Me Then
- Movie Star Handsome
- Wolves
- Empty Glass Of Ice
- Hometown Hero
- Brother Brian
- Do Your Worst
- Your Favorite Songs
Movie Star Handsome was released on both vinyl and CD on February
21, 2020.
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