Press

"Did Morrissey have prophetic vision about the music industry when he sang on The Smiths’1987 release 'Strangeways Here We Come?' Morrissey whined the following: 'At the record company party on their hands - a dead star…Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package! Re-evaluate the songs/double pack with a photograph/Extra Track (and a tacky badge).'  Those words ring true as if Morrissey could foresee the plight of departed artists Jeff Buckley and Nick Drake, and I dare say that Elliott Smith will share that similar fate at the hands of the record company execs.

What does Jeff Buckley have to do with Jason Brody?  Only that Jason Brody has a dark edge to him like Buckley, writes eloquent songs like Buckley, and Brody has a cool confidence like Buckley. Given that comparison, Jason Brody’s album, 'To The Quick,' does not play like the debut release that it is.

From the dark guitar strumming of the album’s opening track 'Nightshade' Brody explores his vocal range when he kicks into a near-falsetto when he croons, 'Trouble ahead when you wake up one morning sick of your own [sweet] perfume.' Throw in some piano and guitar jamming and you have the perfect tune.

The album is low key, and succeeds in Brody’s vision to keep the tracks raw.  This vision is perfected in tracks like 'Angel On Earth' and 'Midnight Stroll.'  The track 'Come to Life' is carried by a dreary guitar riff which could be straight out of a late 70s or early 80s slasher movie, yet another example of this dark rawness.  Another track, 'So in Love' is a quiet love song and, since I’m already comparing Brody to Buckley, could play out as a sequel to Buckley’s 'Everybody Here Wants You' without the Buckley falsetto pleas and whining.

'Boomerang' is the album’s strongest track.  Brody’s voice is a perfect fit for this song, when the music is kicked up a notch and lets Brody opine about a boomerang, or lover, hoping that they 'Don’t fly too far away.' The Wurlitzer on the song is a nice touch as well.  The album’s final track 'Descent,' plays a close second to 'Boomerang' and is a fine way to finish the album, even if the song’s first few minutes slowly drags along.  The track then accurately descends a few minutes before crashing into a full band and Brody rising triumphantly from this descent.  

But unlike Buckley, Brody doesn’t seem tormented by a legacy that preceded him.  Though the backing music may be perfect for gloomy gray skies, Brody finds a way to interject some sun without revealing too much warmth.  For example, the song 'To The Grave' would seem like a gloomy title for a song, but it is one of the unlikely upbeat songs on the album.  Case in point, the actual CD configuration explains it all. The CD actually has an assortment of purple and blue hearts laced around, not exactly fitting with the dark album cover and the music encapsulated on the disc.

Brody may not have the power to resurrect Jeff Buckley.  I also am not about to crown Brody as the second coming of a crowded and often mundane singer-songwriter genre.  But, Brody’s music will at least make you turn away from the next round of ditched demos that record labels will try to pawn off on consumers otherwise fed up with the status of today’s music.  Instead of purchasing a compilation of less than stellar songs found under a tattered mattress six feet deep in a storage unit, think about supporting a musician who is alive, kicking, and talented to boot."  

--Ben Montgomery, CDReviews.com, December 15, 2004