I’ve traded copies of my RPM albums, Buildings and Real Time, with various other RPM Challenge participants. Since I feel like I should be writing more here, I’m going to briefly review profile the albums I’ve received.
First up is Endicott Road‘s 2007 RPM entry, Old Fashioned Love Affair.
Artist: Endicott Road
Album: Old Fashioned Love Affair
Recorded for the 2007 RPM Challenge, this record showcases Columbus, Ohio resident Terry Beckett’s range as a songwriter as he navigates a number of genres, giving particular thought to melody and lyrical content. The opener, “We Are All Children“, offers a catchy keyboard riff and chorus melody that brings to mind an 80s mid-tempo radio cut sung by a barbershop quartet. Other notable tracks include “Motorbike Mike“, which brings to mind what Daniel Johnston’s “Speeding Motorcycle” might have sounded like had it been sung for an infant rather than imaginary demons; “Don’t Stay With Me,” a more energetic and modern-sounding rocker than one would expect after the series of 70s- and 80s-inspired ballads that follow that first track, and is followed up with the pop-funk “I’m Gone“, which could easily become a radio-friendly jam in the hands of a Rob Thomas or Maroon 5.
Why you might like it: The songs are well thought-out: simple and catchy, yet lyrically interesting and personal.
Why you might not: The recording fidelity and song arrangements make this record feel more like a solo songwriter demo than a polished product, meaning that the record lives and dies by its songs. If they’re not your bag of chips, there’s not a lot else to keep you interested.
My (additional) two cents: Beckett’s Virb site states that he’s looking for singers to work with, but I think that these songs would benefit more from more rich and live-sounding instrumentation than a different singer. Dude needs to start a band!
So, there you go. I’ll post another one later this week!
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