You decimate my inhibitions

One of my favorite (re)discoveries of last year was David Ford, who I had enjoyed as the lead man from Easyworld a few years back and who re-emerged from the woodwork with a very fine folk-driven record (including the absolutely fantastic "State of the Union" - which was my #3 song from last year).

His turnaround has been relatively quick as he's already got the follow-up record ready. The short review is that if you enjoyed the first one, you'll be well-served to check out Songs For The Road. The slightly longer take is that this is one of the finer singer-songwriter records I've heard in quite a while. While there's no single song that comes close to matching "State of the Union" it's far stronger overall, with virtually no weak points and quite a few tracks that really catch your ear.

Decimate - David Ford

The opening track "Go to Hell" is nothing particularly special, perhaps even a bit monotonous, but it has no pretensions of being something more than that. Instead, it's simply the place-setter for a trio of songs about as good as you're likely to hear in this genre. "Decimate" is a piano-driven romp, perhaps a bit repetitious, but far too beautiful for me to care. It's followed by "I'm Alright Now" which is melodramatic, too-cool-for-words, darkly literate, and far better than you'd ever expect a song to be based on that description. And third is "Songs For the Road" an over-the-top love song that is certainly self-aware but not self-conscious in choosing to leap headfirst into the emotional whirlpool.

The other highlight is "Nobody Tells Me What to Do," demonstrates that Ford is at his best when he really lets loose. The sensitive boy with guitar thing has its place, but it's got nothing on the sensitive boy who is absolutely not going to take it any more.

Go to Hell - David Ford

Unfortunately, nothing else on the record quite lives up to the heights of that early set. The relatively standard (if perfectly pleasant) singer-songwriter fare of "Train" and "St. Peter" only livened up a bit when the big guns kick in for the last minute or so of "St. Peter." And the last two songs are an unfortunate letdown - too unfocused to live up to the promise of the rest of the album. Still, these blemishes are relatively minor and only serve to knock this down from the "top 10 for the year" category into simply a very, very good record.