For any decent pop geek, seeing a booklet chockfull of paraphernalia such as a Harrison-like Gretsch, a Ringo-id set of Ludwig drums, a Rickenbacker bass, A Hammond organ, a Vox amplifier, or a Sgt.Pepper-styled rug (orwhateverthatisonthewall).
Along with a thanks-to-influences list, featuring names like The Beatles, The Zombies, Harry Nilsson, Burt Bacharach, Jellyfish, John Brion, Jason Falkner etc, should be more than enough to realise what to expect within the thirty something minutes contained herewith.
With some of the songs Evan manages to squeeze most of the above into 3 minutes, with the final result being closest to the similar kaleidoscopic technicolour soundscapes created by Jellyfish, as heard in I Love It Like You, Sleeping With A Friend or Reason To Live.
The jazzy chord progression of Green Arrow makes him sound kinda like The Zombies on speed, or in a more contemporary way, it could’ve pass for some of the earlier Sun Sawed in ½ stuff, while Making The Most Of It isn’t too far from being an imaginary Nilsson/Newman collaboration, in a more upbeat way.
While sticking to the already mentioned patterns, the ballad Nothing To Lose also adds a mellotron-ized baroque feel to it, with Can’t Stop Saying Yes he’s getting slightlydelic, in a genuine British way, and just to round up the above Hall-of-Fame-ish name-check, there’s also a loungey piece of “trackarack”, complete with an expected trumpet-solo, called Dramatic Reruns.
Some might call it too derivative, but for an actual school-project, with a 17 year old doing ALL by himself (which really DOES happen to be the case here, including all the singing/playing/writing), I’d rather call it a genius in the making, learning from the best of them.
[Released by Stripped Rock Records 2006]
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