MWS Media

There's More To See When You're All Over The Map

John Hoskinson's "Miscellaneous Heathen" CD starts off with a stuttering piano straight from "A Day in the Life." You, listener, think, "Ah, I know where we're going with this."

Thing is, you're wrong. That McCartneyish introduction swiftly veers, almost up on two wheels, into a beer-hall sing-along, raises a glass, and give you a big hug. There's a sloppy optimism, both in the opening track and in the unabashedly Cowsills-tinged "I Belong to You" that dares you to abandon your hard-fought emo scowl, even if it's just for three minutes or so.

While John Hoskinson respects the lessons of the past, his music is hardly stuck there. There's too much consideration, too much maturity, in the layered, rich arrangements present on even the most stripped-down numbers, for a lazy retro label. All the same, Hoskinson isn't afraid to skim the creme from the last forty-odd years of pop music. Some of his choices are a joy:

Horns on no less than three songs! And they're not ska, either, thank the gods! We're talking in the spirit of (for the young'uns) Belle and Sebastian or (for us old fogies) Van Morrison... ringing trumpets that celebrate and soothe simultaneously.

Mellotrons, strings, and glockenspiels all over the place! The judicious use of these instruments, synthetic and otherwise, and the reedy pipes Hoskinson was born with, is bound to invite comparisons to Michael Penn. If some snap pigeonholing needs to be made, that'll work -- Hoskinson would do well on a bill with earnest, intelligent, clever artists like Penn, Freedy Johnston , Karl Wallinger, Pete Droge, and Peter Case. In fact, arrangements on songs like the beautifully desperate "Going Nowhere", the chiming "Waiting For Someone To Call", and the soaring, determined "Thanks For Nothing" convinced these ears that John had successfully received an implant of songwriting stem cells from Mr. and Mrs. Aimee Mann.

All guitar tones vintage! While partly due to guest Eugene Edwards' uncanny channeling of George Harrison on three songs, most of this is thanks to John himself. Tell me you can't hear Styx "Fooling Yourself" in the driving acoustic guitar of "Uncharacteristic (It Must Be You.)". C'mon, John -- publicly embrace your seventies prog-rock roots!

The best guitar sounds on the record, for this post-punk child's money, are on the near-perfect pop number, "She Still Plays Around". The big, open chords of John's rhythm part hint at the Plimsouls, the Babys, and early Replacements. Put this one on repeat.

Lyrically, this is an album of future screenplays, with "She Still Plays Around" being the Oscar-contender someone needs to write before Ben and Matt get their hands on it. Complex, minimally sketched characters celebrate domestic bliss ("I Hope I Die Before You Do") wear out their friends' sympathies ("It's Not My Place"), struggle in the slow decline of love ("Going Nowhere"), and even appear to miss being off their meds ("Waiting For Someone To Call."). All these souls are slipped next to yours thanks to John's understated vocals and a soundscape that demands full immersion.

"Miscellaneous Heathen" deserves lots of friendly attention, starting with yours. Buy the CD, request the songs on the radio, and go see John Hoskinson play as often as you can so that he makes another record as soon as possible.

Yes, a must!