Hello, Good Friend (by The Rocket Summer, Pop)

Bryce Avary presents a surface full of musicianship and drive, but not the depth to match. The talent is there but the songs on HELLO, GOOD FRIEND have no hooks, and no amount of pyrotechnics can save poorly written material. Sure, his rock productions sound like Billy Joel or The Who, but they all follow the same predictable arc of starting out softly and then ascending to all-out rockers by the second verse. Avary's vocals are painful to listen to -- not because he lacks vocal power -- but because he's always singing full tilt without creating any opportunities for nuance or development. One might suggest that he listen more closely to Billy Joel, Peter Gabriel, or Bono for how to deliver a song without performing vocal gymnastics on every line.

Avary needs to study the art of pop songwriting -- it's not until the last three songs that we begin to hear the possibility for a chorus that we'll remember after the music stops. "Show Me -- Everything You've Got" is okay, but it can't save this CD from bland mediocrity. If Avary could grow in his writing (or find a collaborator) and let go of some of the vocal flab, we might find a real artist buried underneath.

Released on: July 25, 2005
Label: INO
Genre: Pop