Love That Ian
Ian Love
Ian Love
(Limekiln)
What about old punks makes us let them go soft on us? Forget John Doe gone country/roots. Think Bob Mould. Lou Barlow. Paul Weller. Locally, we have Hanalei and Owen, even occasional heartthrob Matt Skiba.
Why do we listen when they ask us to pay attention, when they spent the decade prior trying to inflict hearing loss? Forgive us if we haven’t noticed Tony Iommi or Zakk Wylde tour the coffeehouse circuit. Kirk Hammet would be bludgeoned with homophobic insults and Tom Araya would be plum assassinated.
Ian Love, late of Rival Schools, turns in his solo debut as if Turin Brakes and Joni Mitchell were the only ones who ever mattered. His falsetto dances on its tippytoes during the tender “Sky To Fall,” gaining strength a song later with dual harmonies. Love makes the case for these arrangements because — opposed to Skiba or ex-Get Up Kid Matthew Pryor — most of the tracks aren’t a step away from mall punk. The Nada Surf-ish “Black Diamonds” finds solace in warm, Hammond swells and yawning cello. New shoes rarely come this broken in.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to download “The Only Night”
