Adam Green
Sixes & Sevens
Rough Trade
Former Moldy Peach Adam Green makes a return with Sixes & Sevens, marking the prolific 26 year old's 5th solo album ...and as usual it's an eclectic, mixed bag spread over 20 songs.
The album covers pretty much every style you can imagine, whether it's the wakiki sounds of Tropical Island, the beatnik poety of That Sound Like A Pony or the Las Vegas lounge of single Morning After Midnight - which even goes so far as to stray from it's already unusual course and head into Rolf Harris outback territory with a touch of that bouncing spring sound. I'm sure there's a name for that instrument, but it's not one I've ever had to recall for a review before. When relative calm scales back the ambition, Green settles back into a relaxing groove and tracks like Twee Twee Dee have an unmistakable charm, while the seemingly superficial lyrics keep their meanings hidden away under deep, deep layers of pastiche.
Pan pipes are the wacky weapon of choice on You Get So Lucky, while the Hopalong Cassidy twang returns for Getting Led, along with some soulful backing singers. Not unlike letting a wide-eyed kid loose in the music room, Sixes & Sevens can best be described as like loading up a 1950's playlist on your iPod and hitting shuffle.
The female vocals mix things up again nicely on the country-tinged Drowning Feet First, while the lyrical rumblings of When A Pretty Face provide another one of the album's highlights, recalling the story-telling style of Louis Prima.
With your preconceptions set aside this is an album that adds up to considerably more than the sum of it's parts. Green's voice is his secret weapon and along with his lyrics style it's strong sound provides consistency that really ties this album together into a remarkably cohesive listen. Perfect, in fact, for that Aloha!-themed-kabuki-Halloween party you were planning.
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18th Mar 2008 - Tumblr
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