Michael McDermott - Last Chance Lounge (2000)

Tracklist

01. Getting Off The Dime
02. Broken Down Fence
03. Unemployed
04. Spark
05. Murder On Her Lips
06. Hand Of The Hunter
07. 20 Miles South Of Nowhere
08. Annie And The Aztec Cross
09. Bourbon Blue
10. Leave Her To Heaven
11. Aces And Eights
12. Thinkin' About You
13. Junkie Girl

A quick glance at the song titles and lyrics may prepare one for equally striking sounds, but Last Chance Lounge falls short of its outward promise, revealing instead a mundane collection of windy sentiments and Top 40 formulas. McDermott's yearning tales of loneliness, love, and life on the move are ambitious, but he lacks the personality to distinguish himself from numerous pop/rock singers who have tread similar ground, and the atmospheric production is unable to support his morose obsessions. He has a knack for capturing the cosmic essence of things and people, but one feels that he's lacking in hard experience, as when he sings of being in love with a "Junkie Girl." To boot, none of the songs are under four minutes long, and what little melodic and lyrical distinctions they contain are mostly obscured by the production. The exceptions are "Murder on Her Lips" and "Annie and the Aztec Cross," whose imagery and instrumentation reveal a Tom Waits influence.

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [flac]