Search - Jonathan Rundman :: Public Library

Grows on you like your favorite jeans, if jeans were catchy

J. Chasin | NYC, NY | 09/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jonathan Rundman's Public Library gets better with each listen, and that is generally the hallmark of a great album.



It should be noted at the outset that Walter Salas-Humara of the Silos produced, and the Silos play Rundman's backing band (though not Salas-Humara). Walter elicits a true and earnest roots rock, power-pop hybrid sound from Rundman; the album manages to be both organic and insanely catchy at the same time. The hooks stay with you- "Smart girls shine like laser light, cause they're so sharp and they're so bright" from the very first song; "Falling down" from the second. The instrumentation has the tastiness of, say, Lucinda Williams' Car Wheels On a Gravel Road, with a rich bed of acoustic guitars, harmonica, and Mary Rowell's sublime violin adding texture to the rhythm section, with Drew Glackin's stinging, punctual leads over the top. Think the Silos Cuba; think Tom Petty; think recent Marshall Crenshaw; think Ryan Adams, think rootsy power pop.



Some of the reviews of this album have suggested that it harkens back to the eighties-- to the so-called Americana movement circa 1985 that included bands like the Long Ryders, Del Fuegos, Del-Lords, Lone Justice, Mellencamp, Fogerty, and even the Silos. One can see their point. But to these ears the album has the transcendent quality of existing out of time; it could just as easily pass for a long-lost early 70s classic that slipped under the radar, lying somewhere between Emmit Rhodes and Gram Parsons.



The thing that makes this record so good is the song writing. Describing what makes a good song is no mean feat, but I'm going to take a shot. Rundman's songs are simple and direct, yet full of profound word play; the beauty of the song form is that you can embellish words by their use within the melody. Ideally there is a synergy between the two. On paper the lyrics "I'm a librarian" may seem hopelessly flat; but when Rundman lays into them here, emphasizes them, makes them anthemic, it is a sort of poetry. I almost said a poetry for the ear-- but all poetry is for the ear. And "Librarian," of course, is one of the album's key tracks.



OK, I've made enough references, offered enough praise. By now you have an idea of whether or not this is something you might dig. So what are you waiting for? Buy the darn thing. As my grandmother might have said, "What's not to like?" (Actually she'd say, "In MY day we had music!" But then she liked Borscht.)"

A is for Amazing

Lisa | Kalamazoo, MI | 07/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This has been my soundtrack on the way to work for the past week: from the ode to Smart Girls to the toe-tapping rockabilly 747's to the lament Every town's the same -- every song is unique and well-written. Buy it and queue it up on repeat -- you won't be disappointed!"