When we look back on our lives, our memories usually aren\u2019t in full-screen, surround-sound glory. \u00a0More often, they\u2019re like a series of snapshots, images that encapsulate days, months and even years. \u00a0On the front, thin slivers of time, and on the back, scrawled across our psyche with a Sharpie, exactly what they\u2019ve meant to us.<\/p>\n
Never is this more true than with relationships. \u00a0From the photo booth makeout session of a one-night stand to the multi-volume opus of a forty-year marriage, everyone you touch \u2013 and who touches you \u2013 gets space on the bookshelf. \u00a0Reminiscing on past loves is like leafing through your life. \u00a0In a matter of minutes, you can watch a relationship blossom and grow, falter, and disintegrate.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s the \u201cSecond We First Met,\u201d \u201cFirst Kiss,\u201d and \u201cWhispered I Love-You.\u201d \u00a0There\u2019s \u201cBurgeoning Boredom,\u201d \u201cScreaming Fight In The Supermarket Parking Lot,\u201d \u201cRealizing You\u2019ll Never See Her Again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam Byer\u2019s latest album, Walk It Off<\/i>, would be a pitch-perfect soundtrack for the snapshot titled \u201cMoment Of Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t come immediately after a breakup, like \u201cMoment Of Crippling Self-Loathing.\u201d \u00a0It doesn\u2019t come months later, like \u201cReflecting Upon The Fact That She Still Has Your Rush T-Shirt And Probably Isn\u2019t Gonna Give It Bac.k.\u201d It usually happens\u00a0a few weeks after the worst of it and a few beers before last call.<\/p>\n
Your heart\u2019s still banged up, but for a brief moment, you\u2019re funny, witty, reflective, and sloshed enough to turn it into something beautiful. \u00a0It\u2019s shooting a perfect game of pool while crying. \u00a0It\u2019s spray-painting a poem on an overpass. \u00a0It\u2019s singing a song to an answering machine, knowing she\u2019ll probably never listen to it and not giving a good goddamn.<\/p>\n
The eight songs on Walk It Off<\/i> capture that moment perfectly. \u00a0They\u2019re simultaneously wistful and winning. \u00a0Strong percussion and piano work anchors lyrics which are both clever and deeply human. \u00a0Walk It Off<\/i> evokes Ben Folds and Warren Zevon, but with a warmer, more homespun feel than either of \u2018em.<\/p>\n
\u201cSettle\u201d saunters in as a loose-limbed, snaky groove; midway through, it\u2019s invigorated by a blast of crunchy guitar and vocals which escalate from murmur to assertive yowl. \u00a0It\u2019s a fine preview of the strong, self-assured songwriting which follows.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrinking Beer\u201d is a great example of Byer\u2019s lyrical strengths. \u00a0It\u2019s a strong, \u201870s-esque piano ballad with a slightly more demented angle than most. \u00a0Plenty of guys have serenaded their lost loves, but few of them with this level of brutal honesty: \u00a0\u201dI\u2019m gettin\u2019 drunk, I\u2019m watchin\u2019 porno, I know that\u2019s nothin\u2019 new, but now when I do, I think of you.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s decidedly Zevon-ish, with dry humor almost but not quite concealing a legitimate ache. \u00a0As it barrels out with whistles and a zippy little piano breakdown, it\u2019s impossible not to smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood Person\u201d is a deceptively sunny meditation on girls, ethics and combining the two. \u00a0Over chirpy keyboard riffs and summery guitars, Byer dissects opportunistic male douchebaggery: \u201cThey say I\u2019ve gotta relax and give girls a chance, take a chance \/ Don\u2019t mind the slurring or the fingerprints \/ But I\u2019m not buyin\u2019 it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBane\u201d is sadder and more powerful than its predecessor. Tight, clean drums and piano and a mournful flute ebb and flow from half-mumbled mournfulness to flat-out accusation and back again (\u201cBut she never \u00a0believed that we\u2019d end up together… because that would require you not screwing up… at least that\u2019s what I think\u201d) before fading to black.<\/p>\n
\u201cForgotten\u201d is the album\u2019s most sophisticated and complex track. \u00a0It\u2019s well-layered, with its judicious use of fuzzed-out guitars really accentuating an otherwise clean, piano-driven composition. \u00a0The breakdown at the end is a whirlwind of guitars and organ, a strong, sprawling conclusion which evokes AOR tracks of yore when men were men, mustaches were glorious and songs were allowed to develop beyond the 3:35 mark.<\/p>\n
Walk It Off<\/i> closes strong: \u201cTwo Girls And Seventeen Women\u201d mixes weary vocals, a simple piano line, and a litany of (supposed) post-breakup conquests into a sweetly acidic delight. \u00a0The combination of an infectious piano riff and Byer\u2019s tongue-in-cheek bravado (\u201cNo, I haven\u2019t gone without more than one day \/ Each one better than you in some way\u201d) is immensely winning, much like the album itself. \u00a0Successfully combining humor, humanity, and musicianship is no mean feat, and Byer does with confidence and style. \u00a0If you\u2019re having troubles with your special someone, you might consider storing an emergency copy of Walk It Off<\/i> and a case of beer in the garage. \u00a0When it all hits the fan, it\u2019ll be exactly what you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":30646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8700],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-42316","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-adam-byer","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42316"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}