Posted on: December 11, 2008 Posted by: Jay NeuFutur Comments: 0

The country rock of Dave Lykins has never been done this well by any other artist. This means that the disc’s first track, “Houston”, has a decidedly Warren Zevon influence placed alongside a decidedly strong set of country influences. This unique pairing gives listeners what they need to continue listening to the disc, ensuring that “Greetings From The Riviera” has a similar spark. The track brings a little more country to the mix, and showcases Lykins’ storytelling ability.

Where individuals like Toby Keith and Travis Tritt have been said to have a good narrative quality to their releases, Lykins takes an additional step and involves listeners intimately in the subjects that he is talking about on “Greetings From The Riviera” and other tracks on “Blurry White Guy”. “Good News” is vibrant, not only because of the interplay between the different instrumental pieces present but also through the compelling compositions that unite together into something that is greater than the sum of its constituent parts. However, “Let Me Carry This” is a track that stands even above the high caliber of work that listeners will come to associate with Lykins, because it unites the different unique qualities of Lykins into one coherent track. Present is a smart set of instrumentation, led along into brilliant arrangements; the narrative will have listeners at the edge of their seats and the overall sound of the track itself is something that feels tried and true, but is in actuality at the cutting edge of music.

Keep in mind too that Lykins reaches this plateau before the midway point of the disc: later tracks like “Here’s Your Love Song”, “Day After Valentine”, and “Flying” further push that point home. “Flying” is especially important as it places Lykins in the nexus of country, piano-rock (think Billy Joel and Elton John) and vocal-heavy music: rather than being pulled apart from each of these distinct styles, Lykins is able to pull them together into something that works in all senses. See Lykins live, pick up “Blurry White Guy” and see exactly what qualities that he possesses: for my mine, I would have to pick Lykins every single time.

Top Tracks: Houston, Let Me Carry This

Rating: 8.4/10

Dave Lykins – Blurry White Guy / 2008 Self / 10 Tracks / http://www.myspace.com/ravin12

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