I first heard “Don’t Give Up” a couple months ago, which happens to be the third to the last song on this record.  The song made me happy. It made me want to dance and I don’t dance unless its with one of my daughters or my wife. We sometimes put on Josh Rouse’s “Don’t Let Go Of My Love” and just boogie in our living room.  Smiles are plentiful.

I have simple comparisons. The horns on “Remote Control Cars” sound so much like a Van Morrison horn arrangement performed by the hometown brass band. This is a good thing. At other times I’m listening to some 70’s band with fuzzy, distorted guitars and then I find myself hearing Fleet Foxes with girls and a little more spunk and heck of a lot more tambourine. The second half of the record is a little stronger than the front end and I guess thats okay. I suppose its better to end on the right note than fall apart and lose steam at the end.  The last song, though I hate to say it, reminds me of Sufjan. But who doesn’t nowadays? Willie Nelson will put out a record next year that we will all be calling Sufjanesque. Or maybe not. Maybe we’ll just say “Man, that sounds like Willie Nelson.”