DAVID J
Estranged (Heyday)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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I'm not sure just what I expected. I mean, I know David J from his stuff with Bauhaus and Love And Rockets. Great bands, and he was a great part of them. So sure, I expected to like this album. I didn't expect, though, that he'd kick off the proceedings with a Bread song, "The Guitar Man." I know he wrote the latest hit for Jane's Addiction, but I didn't expect him to finagle Dave Navarro into playing lead on a Bread song. To *be* the guitar man.

And if you told me up front to expect all that, I can't imagine that I would have expected to like it nearly as much as I do, but it's one terrific track, and, it turns out, just one of many on Estranged, David J's new solo release, and exploration of the edgy side of dream pop.

There are lots more surprises for his longtime fans and the adventurous uninitiated alike. Once past the opener (JA drummer Stephen Perkins sits on for that one, too), the lineup settles down a bit, and it's pretty stellar in its own right. Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters) handles guitar chores, Bruce Kaphan (American Music Club, Mark Eitzel) does things with a pedal steel that, well, that you wouldn't expect, soundtrack A-lister Billy Goodrum plays the piano and everyone does things that are surprising, and wonderful and, well, you're gonna have to hear this one.

Track List:

The Guitar Man * Mess Up * Pulling Arrows From Our Heels * Ruined Cities * Static Cling * In The Great Blue Whenever * Crashed * If Anything Should Ever Happen To You * The Ballad Of August And June * Bright In Your Absence * Trophy Wife * Arc Of Return * Estranged * Time In The Sun

© 2003 - Shaun Dale