Within the first ten seconds of hearing this, it’s easy to make a sweeping assumption.
The likeness to the quirky (but slightly tedious) Luke Toms is all too plain to see, and it doesn’t really get much better from there on, either.
The piano-led Lord, I’ve Been On Fire is so much like Supertramp’s Dreamer, it’s hard not to want to start going for the high notes and busting out the falsetto voice. Other subtle references to quirky/cheery acts such as The Feeling and The Hoosiers are also easily apparent throughout.
The music on show is rich in depth, but narrow in focus. The percussion, hand claps and handy use of backing vocals make it interesting, but as you listen to the other songs on offer, you realise it’s not really anything new.
The Hip And The Homeless is a carbon copy of the title track, with the harmonica that graces us in the final stages becomes far too late to save this song from oblivion. Soy Tonto! fares a little better, but with a whole section of the song sounding like the introduction to The Sims and E4’s chintzy lift music, it slowly dies on its backside.
There is a prospect in here for grander music, but Brian Christinzio needs to stop being so bloody repetitive first…