Like Jason Mraz, Zack Hexum is a singer/songwriter with some of that hip hop attitude, a little skate punk thing that’s not quite breaking out beyond the jazz-influenced rock. On The Story So Far, Hexum hits that falsetto, plays on the rhythmic structures lyrically, and lets the pop rock songs build to interesting bridges and orchestral high points. The story song “Simple City” opens up a sad, dark world. “All I Want” starts with a Muppet-like piano bounce that breaks into big, pop-rock choruses. The album closer, “One Spin,” is the most skate punk in attitude while Hexum’s vocal slips into rap-sing, a guitar riff leading the track’s motion.
One disappointment with The Story So Far is that Don Geham’s production left the band in a separate room, so to speak. As I’ve said about Mraz, Hexum is a coffeehouse singer backed by a band, letting loose the full range of a song with an acoustic core. Geham’s production, though, makes the band sound as if they are background music left on during Hexum’s set at the coffeehouse. Hexum’s songs deserve a much more organic, live recording.
Adam Richman: Patience & Sadness
Adam Richman’s Patience & Sadness (Or Music) mixes whiny skate punk attitude, witty singer/songwriter witticisms, pop melodies, and just enough of rocking out energy. It’s the kind of album that helps you realize that the ratty skateboarder who is always hanging around your coffee shop actually has some deep, honest feelings to convey about life. Buy the guy a cup of coffee and ask how he’s doing.
Andy Stochansky: 100
The sweeping orchestration that kicks off 100 by Andy Stochansky (Linus Entertainment), along with his falsetto, may make you think of Coldplay or U2. That’s track 1 (“All the Things You Are”), and if you go to track 2 (“Shine”), you start to get the hint that there’s some skate punk attitude and groove in this Canadian masquerading as a Britrockers. Then go to track 4 (“That Summer”), an acoustic ballad, which is sweet in a hip hop hand motion way. Now you start to realize that Stochansky might need to be invited to have coffee with you, Adam Richman, and that skateboarder.
Thanks to Zack Hexum, Trauma Records, What Have You Records, Adam Richman, Or Music, Andy Stochansky, and Linus Entertainment for the review copy.
