The album kicks off with “I Blow My Mind,” a cool rock song with a psychedelic element. And from its title you might guess it will contain some odd and playful lyrics. And you’d certainly be right. Here is a taste: “Baby, it’s not at all what you think/You know she’s crazy/I flushed it all down the sink/The place is stately/You’re finding everything you need/Just thank me greatly/As long as I’m here to please/I know my lines.” That’s followed by “The Byzantine,” a solid rock song with some damn good lyrics, such as these lines: “It’s understood/The rot under the hood/Will reveal itself/Just got to give it time/I know I’ve lived some other life/I’ve got another’s time on my mind.” I think a lot of us feel that way, and there is a desire to escape to another time, though perhaps not to the Byzantine Empire, particularly as there were no record players then. There is a good sense of fun to this music, heard, for example, in the weird echo of the word “fly” in the lines “Bend the forces and the lights/Enough to make us fly.”
“Control Me” is a catchy number that grabs us right from the start. And again, it features some intriguing lyrics. “Say it louder, now you’re clearing my throat/Roll me over off the back of your boat/Now you found out the keys are gone/Going lower ‘til you’re sinking in place/Breathing water, but it’s better to taste/I can tread ‘til your drowning’s done.” What a vivid scene. This is one of my personal favorites, and it’s a song that makes me want to dig deeper into this artist’s catalogue. Then the next track’s opening line, “Where have I seen that familiar disguise before,” is striking. I love the playing with expectations like that, for of course we expect him to sing of a familiar face, so the word “disguise” comes as a surprise, and immediately has us listening more closely. That’s followed by “Wanna Get High,” another strong rock song with a good, prominent beat and a somewhat raw feel to the guitar work. The chorus then has a catchy groove. I dig that rhythm, particularly that bass line. “And I wanna get high/When they go low/If it makes you cry/Then let your tears flow/I don’t have to decide.”
Then “21st Century TV” gets off to an odd start, with some soft work on guitar. But when it kicks in, it has more of a hard rock vibe, particularly the work on guitar, and something of a punk edge to the vocal delivery. “Put on the channel with the fire/A line in the sand for my desire/Now I’m coming over to please you/So what if anybody sees me/21st century TV/Is on.” That’s followed by “A Trace,” another track to feature an intriguing opening line: “You wave your knife around so bravely.” “Play Dead” is a rather happy-sounding song with more of a pop feel. Check out these lyrics: “You’ll come from nowhere/Find my hands are in the jar/Without the money/And my head between the bars/So I play dead/And you can roll me over and over again.” I also like these lines: “There’s no outrunning/When my wheels are going numb.”
“John Ponderosa” is totally enjoyable from its opening, with a groove and vibe that might get you dancing. And check out these interesting lyrics: “Child in the poster, he’ll wave you over/We’re turning for the door to find a way out/On a limb/One of them must have saved him/There’s no way that he could‘ve made it out/It’s kinda late to allay them/And I don’t think he’s really that devout.” This is another of my personal favorites. The album concludes with a catchy pop rock song, “Wanna Feel Sad,” another of the album’s highlights. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “Just try to get some sleep tonight/And everything you’ll see will work out/There’ll come a day we’ll set it right/Stop waiting in the wings and we’ll fly/The sea was rough/And you were scared/The time was tough/But you gave up/So you wanna feel sad/And only blue can do.”
CD Track List
- I Blow My Mind
- The Byzantine
- Control Me
- Settling
- Wanna Get High
- 21st Century TV
- A Trace
- Play Dead
- John Ponderosa
- Wanna Feel Sad
Trace was released on December 3, 2021.
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