2.2 Kid Life
"The Escape Artist" CDR
Ionik Records
Genres: lo-fi, indie pop
Ionik Records Cincinnati, OH 45220
May 11 - 18 2002 |
Parts of this album make me want to cry. Parts
of this album really make me want to cry. But I'm going to try to keep my composure
while I review this album, 2.2 Kid Life's second on the wonderful Ionik label.
"The Escape Artist" collects ten lo-fi pop songs crafted by Frank Longano (under
the name 2.2 Kid Life), most of which are nearly flawless. Take "The
Saint" for example. Its chorus is excruciatingly beautiful; although
it's very catchy, there's still something in it that leaves you unsettled - something
that's impossible to define, yet infinitely enjoyable to experience.
And although that piece is a wonderful one, the best one here has to be "The Pros
and Cons of Avoiding Adulthood," a flawless gem of a pop song - this is the type of
track you'd want to play in a starlit ballroom while slowdancing with your loved
one. Longano's wonderful voice accompanies his dreamy guitar playing perfectly -
it's a lo-fi epic, something that can sit right beside one of Rob Pollard's
early songs without feeling at all out of place.
Altogether, Longano's sad songs are better than his happier, upbeat ones. While
his melancholy pieces flow perfectly, and provoke an emotional reaction from you, the
happier ones tend to be less well-done, and occasionally flawed.
However, most of these songs show Longano at his best - and, as a result, at his most
depressing. This is, altogether, a great lo-fi release - I wouldn't be surprised if
it turned out to be one of the year's best when New Year's rolls around.
85%
Matt Shimmer |