Dan Bryk
"Discount Store" CDEP
Urban Myth /
Firefly Music
Genre: singer / songwriter, indie
pop
June 2008 |
I've long considered Dan Bryk's Lovers
Leap a wonderful geeky pop album, replete with sad love lyrics and
its fair share of nerd in-jokes (Mark Turmell,
anyone?). So imagine my joy in unearthing Bryk's new EP,
Discount Store, from the Indieville mailbag. And hey, not much has
changed since Lover's Leap. Sure, everything's a little
tighter, but this is basically the same formula - Bryk's
deceivingly
tuneful vocals, his cheesy yet effective keyboards, and of
course a wide array of friends helping out with drums, bass, guitars,
and the whole deal. And there's no
side-stepping it, Dan Bryk is a marvelous pop songwriter.
Curiously, I find "Put That Boy Away," not the title-track, to be the
most compelling song on this EP - its playful verse and breakout
chorus make it the record's most accessible moment. Coming in a
close second is the loose and melancholic "I Miss You," which
continues Bryk's confessional vibe established on Lover's
Leap. Meanwhile, the main event here, "Discount
Store," is a fun and zesty singalong with a cute premise, but do we
really need two versions? I mean, the "long version" is less than a
minute longer than the original. Despite this, as well as a throwaway
60s-style garage-pop bonus track in "Cherry Berry," the Discount
Store EP is an above average pop record from a hard-working and
hideously under-recognized musician. Here's hoping the next Dan
Bryk album is a smash hit.
dan bryk's
myspace
80%
youuuuuuuutube!:
she doesn't mean a thing to me tonight (previous album)
Fun Fact: Dan Bryk's
Lover's Leap received accolades from notorious critic Robert Christgau, who put it on his best-of-2000 list.
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 6 tracks + 1
hidden, 27:12, distributed by
the
label,
released 2007] |