John Dufilho

Item: John Dufilho
Author: Trevin Shirey

(2005)

Reviewed by Trevin Shirey

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Label Glurp RecordsDecapolisNovember 2005

indie pop lo-fi

An album just a bit too bland.

John Dufilho is a hard working musician who is easy to respect. Frontman of the Deathray Davies, this self titled album is the full length solo debut of Dufilho.

This solo disc is similar at times to The Beatles and early Weezer material. Unfortunately, 'John Dufilho" seems to be missing one key element that makes a lot of solo albums great: Passion. Don't get me wrong...lyrically, the words are as passionate as most other solo works. It's just between the constant echo-type effect on Dufilho's voice and the predictably of every track the passion is lost. Dufilho makes an effort at adding some variety by using different types of keyboards, but it just isn't enough.

There are a few bright spots on the record though. "I'm Outside" has a harder edge that is rare on the album. It's a nice break from the typical two minute track of boring pop. Also of note, Dufilho definitely achieved the low-fi sound he was looking for. It might be a bit too raw, but it's not overly bad.

The bottom line is unless you are really into Dufilho's past work there isn't much here. That's a shame because I think a lot of hard work is lost in a world of monotony with "John Dufilho."

1.5/4