Powerpop meets Broadway in this assortment of character-driven songs, each against the backdrop of fanciful story lines and cartoony production.
After the autobiographical Confessions of a College Student, Lamar Holley turned his attention to dust-collecting concept material from his late teenage years. What follows is a musical miscellany of lo-fidelity gems, mostly from his collaboration with Mark Plummer.
In the mid-nineties, Holley and Plummer recorded improvisations, mined the playback for material, then arranged and produced the songs as part of a larger Abbey Road-esque concept album, released on cassette to family and friends.
The "stream-of-consciousness" nature of these improv-written songs results in character-based mini-dramas: broken families, a carnival act gone awry, and bleak war-torn existence.
Later, Holley lightens up with a six-minute schoolboy epic, chronicling the pain of classrooms, crushes, and parents. "Sorry, Charlie" sounds like a four-track cassette production of late-night singing and cheap Casio keyboard presets. Still, despite the obvious homemade sound, Holley remains "in character" throughout.
Even the bonus tracks retain a character-driven charm. The hi-fi "Genius" and "Amelia" are children's song demos about Edison and Amelia Earhart. And "Acting in Love" is the true story of a New York City actor who met his future wife at an audition.
Fittingly, the album begins with "Jack Loves Julie", the only autobiographical song in the collection. Hiding behind a nursery-rhyme persona, Lamar Holley reveals more than metaphor; he reveals the raw beginnings of his career as a songwriter/recording artist. |
