Josh Rouse - 1972

The first time I popped this album in, I thought it was just alright, being particularly jaded by the idea of another singer/songwriter album coming across my desk. Then I listened again and wondered what the hell I was smoking the first time I listened to it. Sometimes greatness isn’t apparent at first glance. I remember getting Wilco’s Summer Teeth album in the mail a few years ago. I listened and put it in the closet. Every few months or so, I would pop it back in and, again, the sub-par aura sent it packing once again. Then one day, I put it in and it clicked. It was like, for the fist time, I realized how great an album it actually was and I have loved it ever since. Lucky for me, this time it only took two or three listens to click, not years. Josh Rouse uses the odd art of complex simplicity in all ten tracks of the album and that is what makes 1972 the achievement it is. Each song sounds simple in its listening, but it is constructed with fine care and layering to make it sound that way. In the same girlish vein of “the secret to wearing make up is to make it look like you aren’t wearing any”, Josh adds music to make the song come together more seamlessly, instead of making it sound crowded. Perhaps the most refreshing turn on the album is that Josh doesn’t sit on a stool and whine. The late trend is to sing about broken hearts and lost love, about how life sucks for you and how the world revolves around you. The lost art revived here is storytelling. Josh tells stories with his songs and paints a picture of life in general, not just his life. The album spans decades of influences, from the almost Bee Gee like sounds of “Comeback (Light Therapy)” to the simple Carole King referenced and influenced “1972”. Harkening back to the days when music was a craft and not something you did to be famous, Josh manages to find a laid-back groove in songwriting that spans years of labels in its quality. Reminiscent of some Americana influence, such as Wilco, 1972 is a terrific outing from an artist more people should know. Pick it up, listen a couple times, and you won’t soon stop long enough to put it down. [www.joshrouse.com]