Reviews

My, how the mighty have fallen. John  Nolan started so strong with Taking Back Sunday’s debut record and then managed to keep up a head of steam when he left that band to form Straylight Run. The first batch of Straylight demos were great; seven heart-on-your-sleeve confessions that rang of sincerity and truth. But soon, Straylight revealed themselves to be a horse of a different color, trading in the slightly out-of-key strained vocals Nolan was known for in order to head in a more radio friendly direction (read: terribly over-produced). As Straylight has fallen apart over the past few years, Nolan decided to strike out on his own, recording this not-so-inspiring solo debut for Doghouse Records.

Nolan still has an obsession with poly-rhythms, evident on the first track after a short intro. His layering is interesting but there’s too much of it throughout, making into little more than a gimmick. “Screaming into the Wind” sounds a lot like the Bright Eyes track “Lover I Don’t Have to Love”, just with less interesting lyrics. The words to Oberst’s track match the dark vibe of the tune and Nolan just can’t reach the same heights. There’s also a cover of the Primitive Radio Gods’ tune “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in Hand”. Nolan does a nice job with it and the song fits well with his originals…but he should have never attempted to recreate the B.B. King sample that was originally used! His voice sounds thin and piercing, the opposite of King’s wholly-convincing turn with the lyrics.

There are some things to like here but quite a bit to pick apart as well. The electro-drums and rhythmic layering can get pretty impressive, but without some good hooks and solid lyrics, tend to be the only standout portion of the album. It’s a shame that Nolan doesn’t stretch his voice the way he used to; we might believe him again if he did.