Reviews

The title of singer-songwriter has been ruined for me. Singer-songwriter has become a word record labels use to describe chart hogging, little talented, bratty little shits like Avril Lavigne who feign emotion in songs written by a 40 year old label veteran who has no idea what they’re writing about, but know their daughters friends would love it. I have strong feelings about this title, strong enough that the past 6 months for me have been a strong majority of hardcore CDs (nothing wrong with hardcore, by the way), as I had felt that I lost my faith in singer-songwriters in general, and would be two stepping until I slowly passed away. As one who has admiration for those who truly express themselves through their instruments and words, I was finally proven wrong as I listened to “Needle Bed”; from Lake Worth, Florida native John Ralston.
 
Ralston’s 11 track debut LP expresses a range of thought and emotion, reminding me of any number of influences, from Bright Eyes to the Smashing Pumpkins. Needle Bed is appropriately named. The songs have a warm, easy, and welcoming feel; set off by sharp, cutting lyrics.
 
The CD itself is emotionally charged, wreaking of brutal honesty such as the song “Gone, Gone, Gone”, a modern tale of lost love. The song delivers a rather sophisticated “fuck you” to an ex girlfriend, spoken through soft haunting singing, into strong convicting vocals that cry of frustration and indecisiveness. Some might say the song is a bit much, almost sounding as if influenced by the Goo Goo Dolls, but according to what Ralston has said it may be the most popular song (and I love the fucking Goo Goo Dolls no matter what you all say.)
 
It goes through a wide range of emotion and in some cases, curiosity. Such is thus in the song “When We Are Cats,” a song begging the question of whether or not there is true love after death. It even goes into sharp contradiction (as far as I can see) in the song “I Believe in Ghosts” what’s opening lyrics are “I believe in ghosts and don’t believe in God. Like I believe in the sum, but not the part.” I feel like the album takes clichés of popular emo music today and puts a spin on them that comes off as witty and emotionally driven as opposed to generically apathetic lyrics fitting of a junior high slow dance ballad. I see it as music in a genre which has become jaded by watered down versions of its now predecessors and brings something heartfelt and real to the table.
 
When I was reviewing this CD, after reading about it, I prepared to make notes about it as I listened. Soon after putting it in, I realized this was not a CD I could make notes on. John Ralston’s “Needle Bed” is a CD you need to feel, not analyze. Perhaps my only complaint is that it doesn’t seem whole, and seems as if it ends abruptly. Maybe this was the intention for this CD, because I am looking forward to more from Ralston in the future. I give it 4 stars, because I feel like Ralston is only going to get better as his promising musical career progresses.