The Skinny:
Dave Lionelli's Acid Folk is an acoustic-guitar driven album with simple, accessible songs and lyrics, strong vocals, and enough guest musicians to keep things interesting.
The Details:
While there are some slightly psychedelic moments to Dave Lionelli's Acid Folk (as the title would suggest), it is mostly a straight-forward acoustic-rocker album. It has its rock n' roll moments, it has its sensitive moments, it has its bluesy moments, and it has its country moments. The singer/songwriter genre is full of great acts, and Dave Lionelli adds one more.
Lionelli's strongest attribute is his voice, which passes through a wide range of styles during the CD, from a thick, country/southern draw in "Condemnation," to sweet and spacey in "Happy Birthday Brother," to soulful and funky on "(Stuck Inside A) Glass Cage." In "We've Come Too Far to Ever Go Home," Lionelli's voice stands powerfully over gospel hand-clapping and back-up vocals. In addition, he plays a number of instruments, including keys, harmonica, bass, and percussion, although his guitar playing is certainly the most notable. Lionelli's acoustic guitar provides a consistent push throughout the CD that carries the listener from one tune to the next.
The songs on Acid Folk have straight-forward lyrics that some listeners might find simplistic while others might describe them as down to earth. What they lack in poetics, they make up for in accessibility. Even if it is a bit cliche, who can't relate to lyrics like:
I spend too much money,
I have a lame job.
Life is going nowhere,
but it's okay.
I'm happy I guess...
Although the album never loses its solo artist feel, Lionelli brings in a number of guest musicians to play bass, organ, electric guitar, electric sitar, and drums. Most impressive among these is Andre Manscurian, who adds very tasteful electric guitar to two tracks. Manscurian's playing on "Condemnation" is very bluesy in every sense of the word - it is extremely expressive, almost gut wrenching, and fits perfectly with the lyrics.
The recording quality on the album leaves something to be desired. It isn't anything that will deter someone from enjoying the CD, but it definitely isn't crystal clear, the way I would like to hear music like this.
Acid Folk is Lionelli's first full-length album, and I believe that any of the imperfections mentioned in this review will get smoothed over in future endeavors. If you enjoy singer/songwriters and acoustic rockers, you'll probably enjoy Dave Lionelli.
