Saturday, April 26, 2008

Album Review: Matthew Ryan




Matthew Ryan -'Vs. the Silver State.' (One Little Indian)

'Vs. The Silver State is one of those albums that takes a while to grow on you, but it's worth making the effort to pay attention to.

Having been sent this a couple of weeks ago, it's now had quite a few plays and I've enjoyed listening to it more and more. The band (also including Brian Bequette, Doug Lancio, and Steve Latanation) conceived it as a pure Rock n Roll record. What that what constitute is anyone's guess (as always, ask X people and you'll get X=1 answers!), but I think they succeeded.

In a way, this reminds me a little of Ryan Adams' Gold album from 2001. It's rock'n' roll, as understood by the Americans, who after all invented in the 1950s. It's rootsy, and I guess in the UK might even be understood as 'Americana' with country-ish influences. We don't look to this music for sonic innovation, but we do look to it for classic feaures. It's a good, solid record with old-fashioned quality songwriting. Final track 'Closing In' is perhaps the standout track, with it's beautiful, dreamy feel it makes a perfect coda to the album.

***1/2

Matthew Ryan's official website

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