Review Summary: Dreary, monotonous, and average all describe Joshua Radin, but his whisper of a voice can at time be mesmorizing, and that is what separates him from the rest of the acoustic crooner charlatans.
So i've been really into this new wave of singer/songwriters that have come out. Along with Radin, guys like Patrick Park, M Ward, and Cary Brothers, have dominated my iPod. So what separates Radin Joshua Radin from the rest of the pack? Well, not a whole lot quite honestly. But don't let that turn you away.
Chances are you have heard Joshua Radin, even if you don't know it. His songs have been featured in episodes of Grey's Anatomy, and most notably, Scrubs. I say most notably because it was Scrubs star Zach Braff who discovered Radin, and has since littered his projects (3 songs in Scrubs, and a song in Braffs movie The Last Kiss) with Radins music. You will know why too when hearing these tracks played alongside the scenes to which they correspond. Radin's music and Braff's acting were meant for eachother, as anyone who has seen Garden State and has heard the album can atest to. The true question is, as we can see, is where would Radin be without Zach? Probably still making EP's in Cleveland. But I digress.
The best way to describe Josh would be to take an Elliott Smith verse, and make that the whole song. Nothing wrong with an Elliott Smith verse, but my point is that his tracks can be very monotonous. They never really take off with a catchy, soaring chorus. When equipped with nothing but a voice and an acoustic guitar, I think this is a must have. However, what is there is very beautiful, sung in Radin's soft, crooning, whisper, sometimes reminiscent of Smith, and even moreso when Priscilla Hartranft add's her 2 cents worth of harmonies. Lyrically, the album, well, it is what it is. It's no Dylan, buts it's Nickelback either. The man writes ballads, and is damn good at it. The lyrics are very listener friendly, as are the melodies.
What this album suffers from, as I said earlier, is a bad case of sameness. You get 11 ecoustic ballads, so by the 7th and strongest track, "Winter", you'll probably want to turn it off. I mean, how long can someone mope around and listen to love songs? Maybe pretty long, but I sure can't. With the exception of a few hooks here and there, nothing really stands out enough to take this album over the top. For his next album, I am hoping Radin takes a passage out of the Bible of Elliott Smith, and is able to kick it up a notch with some (relatively) uptempo tracks, or just anything to mix it up a bit.
Wait, I have it. It's been killing me. This guy. He's a lyrically inferior, stripped down Sufjan Stevens. When I say crooning whisper, think Sufjan.
This album is incredibly average, when compared to other's in the genre. It will sound great to the untrained ear, to someone who has not filled themselves with their fair share of musical knowledge. Don't let this turn you off though. There is a time and place for almost every album, I think. But if I had to spend my on an album in the genre, I would put it towards any of the other artists I have mentioned in this review.
Pros:
Radin's voice
Tracks like "Winter" and "Closer"
Strong melodies
Cons:
Very little variety
Last part of the album is filler
Makes you feel like you should be breaking up with a girl, then crying about it
