Mikey Wax: Change Again

Being a singer/songwriter today and trying to stand out from the pack is not an easy task. You have to be damn good, and you have to be damn good in the first 30 seconds to hook the listener in. Long Island’s Mikey Wax will hook you in with his debut, Change Again, and he’ll keep you there with melodic stuff that is also a nice mix of uplifting pop/rock and darker, slower-tempo fare. Wax has a breezy way about his songs, which have a modern yet classic feel (think Josh Rouse or Ari Hest) and his slick falsetto is the perfect vehicle to deliver that material. The falsetto is also overused, but if the songs are this good on a debut, it’s easier to let those things slide. And while tracks like “Slow Motion” and “Yes” are driving, mid-tempo hooky songs, Wax is at his brooding best on the more somber material such as “Love Light (Triad)” or “Cedars Bay.” (LABEL: self-released)

Mikey Wax MySpace Page

  

Coby Brown: Stars & Curses

Building a career as an indie musician is hard enough without having to deal with serious real-world issues – like, say, being diagnosed with cancer – but those are exactly the cards that Coby Brown was dealt a few years ago. To his credit, Brown took his diagnosis in stride, releasing an EP (2007’s Time Is Now) that whetted appetites for his first full-length, Stars & Curses. Happily, Curses delivers on Time’s promise, offering up 10 pleasantly polished cuts of gently woven singer/songwriter pop goodness. Brown’s style isn’t showy – he leads off with the somber-to-a-fault “4th of July,” and on a number of tracks, he drenches his vocals in wide swaths of reverb – but the songs speak for themselves. Fans of artists like Josh Rouse and Josh Ritter will find a lot to love here; Brown’s voice is strong and slightly reedy around the edges, giving the music just enough homespun edge to keep things grounded. Will Golden’s production is another strong selling point – in more commercially oriented hands, tracks like the widescreen “Daylight” and yearning “Madman” would aim for glossy bombast rather than honest emotion. Nothing on Stars & Curses grabs you by the collar right off the bat, but give it time – it’ll grow on you and refuse to let go. (self-released 2009)

Coby Brown MySpace page