I can’t help fighting the idea that Pete Yorn is trying to be M. Ward.
His newest disc Back and Fourth reeks of M. Ward similarities, down to the scruffy voice and Saddle Creek sound, even to the point of getting producer Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes fame to hop on board. Add this to the fact that he will soon be releasing Break Up, which is an album with written and performed along side the next actor-turned-singer, Scarlett Johansson. Sound like the M. Ward / Zooey Deschanel band She & Him? It does to me. Just check out their track "Realtor" on their new myspace; Johansson even attempts to sing like Zooey Deschanel. But Nevertheless, Back and Forth must be judged on it’s own merits, and not by the stigma it seems to carry.
The album starts with it’s single, “Don’t Wanna Cry." It starts with its chorus, and barely deviates from it throughout the song. It’s catchy and poppy, with a chorus that will surely fill the void left by a break-up for many teenage girls, and will more-than likely be the musical component for plenty of senior slide shows.
"Paradise Cove" follows, and so starts the assault of an M. Ward impersonation. Yorn starts the song singing in Ward’s signature low and raspy voice, but eventually climbs a little bit higher and adds another catchy chorus from his singer-songwriter tool belt, which comes seemingly every 20 seconds. The verses are mostly well written, but filled with lines like “sing me a song/sing your heart out” and “when you talk/it makes me cringe.” It ends with more M. Ward singing, and before you know it your onto the next song.
"Close" sounds strikingly similar to the first song, but this time includes falsetto singing. It is utterly predictable, and the entire song sounds like one big chorus. Mogis becomes a bit apparent though in this track, with a soft Bright Eyes-esque trumpet solo found nestled in between the monotony.
Starting with plucking, "Social Development Dance" sounds like something different. Before you know it, a beat hits, and you start to get exited – but then comes the Yorn swirling chorus. Still, the verses are the highlight of the album so far, and the choruses are bearable. "Shotgun" also contains some of this newly found optimism, with verses and drums that stand out far from the rest of the album. But within a few seconds your back into the formula, with building pre-choruses and a swirling chorus. There is a few second guitar solo though, which may be the best part of the album.
The rest of the album goes by in a predictable and methodical manner, to the point where writing about it even becomes monotonous. Basically, as you might have already deduced, the formula goes as follows: above average verses + a building pre-chorus + a swirling chorus, mixed with a few swoops down into M. Ward range and all too short flashes of Mogis-genius = just about every song on Back and Fourth.
Towards the end, Yorn does catch up a bit for lost time- throwing in two interesting ballads, ‘Four Years’ and ‘Long Time Nothing New’ – the latter of which is the best song on the album. But it isn’t enough to save the album as a whole.
In the end, Yorn’s newest disc is pleasant. It’s sung well, and is produced and mixed smoothly – but it isn’t anything new. Even though I’d give large sums of money and firearms to sing like him, I can’t help but dozing off into my own head every time the record starts to spin. Maybe this feeling comes off the heels of reviewing Daniel Francis Doyle's tour-de-force of crazy We Bet Our Money on You, but being a huge fan of acoustic Mike-Mogis-produced folk (i.e. Bright Eyes), it surprises me how bored I actually became while listening to Back and Fourth.
Ironically, Yorn sums up the record perfectly with the chorus in his last song, singing “It’s been a long time, nothing new.” Maybe Break Up will be better. But until then I’m stuck singing the chorus of “Don’t Wanna Cry” over and over again in my head.
"Back and Fourth" is on sale June 23, 2009 from Columbia.
