Badly Drawn Boy / Jonathan Richman

[August 4th, 2004]

^Badly Drawn Boy

One Plus One Is One

Astralwerks

Digging his songs out of a giant imaginary toy box beside his bed, the shaggy knit-capped Brit who goes by the moniker Badly Drawn Boy has wowed fans with his pop prowess and his inventive instrumental play for the past four years. On his latest, One Plus One Is One, Damon Gough shows himself still a fearless singer-songwriter experimentalist. Unfortunately, his willingness to follow a concept drowns the first half of the album in soul-crushingly painful flute. The second track, "Easy Love," starts with and ends with a glaring saccharine flute. The repetitive piping lines are unrelenting, continuing through track 6, "The Blossoms," which is really little more than a lazy flute solo. After that point, though, One Plus One Is One turns into a diverse pop wotk that at times comes near the peak moments of Gough's earlier efforts. The highlight track, "The Year of the Rat," puts the piper in the bag, revealing the musician with his piano; percussion swells and a chorus of children sings Gough's words: "Everybody needs to know it's the year of the rat/ Every day we've got to hold on/ 'cause if we hold on we could find some new energy." Here Gough shows his gift for building anthemic songs, while the next track, "Four Leaf Clover," shows off his ability to turn a sad strum into a convincing pop groove highlighted by the perfect placement of handclaps, tambourine and piano flourishes. The rest of the album follows in perfect pop step, all held together by Gough's weary workman's voice and dry-witty lyrics. The flute does come back once, sharing the stage with the children's choir on "Holy Grail," but by that time, the listener is so pop-drunk, it just blends into the beauty. (Mark Baumgarten)

^Jonathan Richman

Not So Much to Be Loved As to Love

Sanctuary/Vapor

Not So Much to Be Loved As to Love is the latest from Jonathan Richman and, 21 albums down the line, nothing new at all for the bobble-headed popster. These are '50s-styled numbers sung with the faux-naiveté that has made the former Modern Lovers frontman an adored cult songwriter for 30 years. His favorite subjects remain love, favorite cities and painters, and the perspective he writes from continues to be that of a kid finding wonder in things as ordinary as the title track's streetcars and paintings hanging in museums in Amsterdam or Boston ("Vincent Van Gogh"). But unlike any of the string of near-perfect albums spanning the last five years, this effort comes off as insincere. Every reason why Not So Much To Be Loved is an awkward listen is in the guts of "The World Is Showing Its Hand." It's not the guitar line, which is interchangeable with a dozen Richman doo-wop guitar jaunts that sound like they could be from a Del Shannon 45. And it's not even in the lyrics--a knee-high first-person tour about finding something beautiful in a smell like diesel exhaust. The words are arbitrary, but then again, so are the majority of Richman's lyrics. What's different this time is the effort Richman puts into the wide-eyed boy-man routine. The irreverence and pondering wonder that have made Richman's best albums so charming comes off flat on Not So Much, a lazy effort by an artist who might just be faking it. Never wink at the audience, Jonathan. We might begin to think you're just kidding. (Richard Shirk)