Review Summary: "Me and Rosie made cookies the other day and there are THOUSANDS of them, so guess what I've been eating for breakfast and lunch for the past two days? Chocolate chip cookies! Best summer ever!"
Allison Weiss is undeniably cute. She lists her interests on Facebook as pizza and pancakes. She sports nerdy thick glasses over a smiley complexion. Her tumblr quaintly states: "Hello, my name is Allison Weiss. I play guitar and tell my secrets to audiences. When I don't hate the world, I'm completely in love with it." Yes, Allison is adorably humble and fantastically friendly. She meekly popped into the music scene back in late 2007, when about a dozen and a half people saw her cover of Bomb the Music Industry's "Future 86", and quickly became both a crowd-pleaser and a friend at shows. A little under a year later, she played a show at NYC's Sidewalk Cafe, had it recorded, and released the tracks for free on her bandcamp.
Hearing Allison play a live show isn't too different from listening to a studio album of hers, as the songs are simple and don't require any over-the-top production. What the listener misses out on with an A.W. studio recording, however, are the brief snippets of Allison just being her friendly, cute self. Throughout her forty precious minutes of stage-time, she casually jokes without punchlines or irrelevant stories between songs, continuously adding to her fun, innocent persona. Her songs tend to follow this same formula, with brief tales of love and lust and loss being sung over simple chord progressions. Needless to say, Miss Weiss isn't the most ambitious musician or lyricist. She even admits it herself before "I Had To Do It", charmingly proclaiming that "
this song sounds like all my other songs!" The no-frills songwriting works for her though, and Allison provides the audience with an abundance of cute stories and awkward moments.
Weiss's simple songwriting is complemented ever-so-nicely by her undying enthusiasm and an enchanting honesty that makes it hard not to fall for her, at least in a friendly way. "July 25th, 2007" utilizes the simplest break-up song formula possible and a pretty unimpressive vocal range, yet Allison's integrity in her delivery give it a certain magical charm. Slightly more impassioned tracks such as "I Don't Wanna Be Here" and "Yer Goin' Down" boast most of the same properties as the other tracks, but include a hint of ire that you wouldn't quite expect from this sweet young songwriter. Quoth Allison: "
My favorite part about that song is that there's a me-forgetting-my-words-and-then-you-guys-clapping-for-it solo." Despite all of her musical shortcomings, she makes herself so easily liked. When all is said and done, Allison Weiss puts on a fun and friendly performance that warms the hearts of the listeners yet maintains a casual and unassuming atmosphere. Allison is just trying to be herself and half a good time - if you're willing to watch and listen, well that's even better.
Anyone who knows of Allison Weiss realizes that her name will never be associated with any substantial fame. Hell, even Allison knows, and she's just fine with that. I'm sure she's totally content with putting out sporadic albums filled with catchy songs about whatever bothers or excites her until it gets boring. For the time being,
Live at Sidewalk Cafe NYC is Allison's gift of friendliness and gab to the music community…nothing more, nothing less. It feels pretty right to her, and it certainly could feel pretty right to you too.
