Pete Yorn, 'Back and Fourth'

Release date: June 23, 2009
Record label: Columbia
Official Web site: http://www.peteyorn.com/

The buzz: Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Pete Yorn—best known for appearing on the “Me, Myself & Irene” soundtrack—returns with his fourth studio album. It’s his first in three years. Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley) produced.

The verdict: Often dismissed as merely a pretty boy with a pretty voice, Yorn’s latest finds him getting personal with some of the more memorable lyrics of his career. But there are still quite a few clunkers ready to annoy anyone interested in giving the disc a close listen and/or reading of the lyrics printed inside the jacket. Sonically, “Back & Fourth” is smartly produced pop rock that never really rocks but offers plenty of laid-back hooks over which Yorn’s hungry voice grabs hold. The songs are largely about busted relationships: “Social Development Dance,” for instance, chronicles lost love and features the winning lyric “I Googled you in quotes, got no results.” But then the emotive song is burdened with the unintentionally laughable line, “You kissed the best, you had enormous breasts.” Junk like that needs to be rewritten long before he enters the studio if Yorn ever wants to be taken seriously as a songwriter.
 
Did you know? Publicity material credits super producer Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers) with “additional creative consulting.”

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