Should Confusion

Brandon Patton

Merlin Pool Music, 2002

http://www.brandonpatton.com

REVIEW BY: Jason Warburg

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 02/20/2004

I have a 24-year-old nephew whom I love dearly in spite of his being, well, 24.

See, the kid is bright, adventurous, rootless and unreliable, easily distracted by the opposite sex and seemingly bent on stretching his adolescence out as long as possible. I'll spare you the details; suffice it to say, two years out of college, he doesn't have a penny to his name and continues to live almost completely in the ephemeral present, relying on instincts, charm, and a native intelligence that has allowed him to get away with more than most. (Hmm... does that sound more critical... or jealous?)

Anyway... Brandon Patton, for whatever reason your album Should Confusion makes me think of my nephew, and not just because he likes his music as eccentric and independent as possible. (Hell, he probably downloaded your first rough mix off the Internet years ago…)

Maybe it's because, despite a rocky moment or two, this disc full of hormonally-influenced odes to ADD ultimately won me over. The opening, somewhat mournful "Counting The Paces" had me thinking maybe I'd stumbled on yet another young "I wanna be as sad as James Taylor but not as artful" navel-gazing acoustic troubadour. Ah, but then a couple of minutes into the following "What's The Worst That Could Happen?" the lyrics and music took a sharp manic turn, electric chords crashing in as Patton played out a high school romance melodrama with an unexpected jolt of bite and purpose behind it. In the moment Patton's self-assured vocals went from breathy Dave Matthews croon to full-throated Paul Westerberg cry, I knew I was on to something.my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

"Mo' Song" has a similar flavor in the sense that it's also an acoustic-based track that Patton adds a tasty electric crunch to. What it also adds is dashes of cock-eyed wisdom and blind-side humor that permeate the rest of the album like the spices in a pungent gumbo. Following the twists and turns of these songs, you realize this particular kid really does have it; he knows how to tell a story in such a way that you have no idea what's coming next, but aren't for a moment tempted to leave before the show's over.

Patton's sharp wit is especially evident on the playful "Did All That Before," whose verses are full of rapturous declarations of love that collapse under their own weight in the balloon-poking chorus. "Auspicious Moment" is another rib-tickler, one of those goofy messing-around-in-the-studio vignettes that shouldn't work, but does. Patton's deadpan, self-mocking, white-boy rap delivery is the perfect counterweight for the hormone-addled fervor of the lyrics ("I can't pay attention, in the spring / When the girls are out on the green / And the summer dresses cover my head when I try to think"), the drum track crashing around in the background with uncanny adolescent empathy.

Patton's exuberant arrangements keep you guessing, deftly mixing and matching musical styles from the big-band jazz flourishes on "Thirty-One Hundred Miles" to the vaudeville shadings of "Everybody Loves You Now" and the Rawhide rockabilly of "The Good Life." In every case, his acoustic guitar work is superb, as steadily melodic and rhythmic as you could ask for.

The bookend to Patton's straight & sincere opener is the earnest, memorable closer "Someday When We're Old," which leaves you with just the right final impression -- yeah, he can get a little goofy, but he's no lightweight. So let's see, this kid I wasn't so sure about turns out to be: an excellent guitarist with an engaging voice, who's self-published a d-i-y album that's eloquent, witty, versatile, charming and -- once in a while -- serious.

I don't know what my nephew will be doing -- hell, I'm not even sure what continent he'll be on -- this time next year, but I'm pretty confident Brandon Patton will be making music somewhere, and people will be listening. As they should.

For more information or to purchase this album, see Brandon Patton's Web site.

Rating: A-

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© 2004 Jason Warburg and The Daily Vault. All rights reserved. Review or any portion may not be reproduced without written permission. Cover art is the intellectual property of Merlin Pool Music, and is used for informational purposes only.