Justin McRoberts

Item: Father
Author: Bert Gangl

Father

(2000)

Reviewed by Bert Gangl

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Label 5 Minute WalkThe Phantom Tollbooth2000

acoustic rock ccm pop rock singer-songwriter

Dropping his hat into the musical arena popularized by acts like Jars of Clay and Caedmon's Call during the mid-'90s, Justin McRoberts adheres, in large part, to the folk-tinged pop-rock template laid out by these groups and the numerous artists who have followed them during the past five years. "Always Deeper" is a pleasant composition that features a relaxed vocal delivery and full-bodied low guitar sound. The light pop number "Waiting on Your Love" includes a highly metric and alliterative lyrical structure which gives the song a well-defined sense of rhythm. And "Be Still" attaches the introspective, often confessional slant of much of contemporary folk-rock to a set of Beatlesque melodic embellishments to fine effect. But despite the agreeable nature of entries like these, a sizable segment of the album's songs are generally nondescript affairs that do little more than fall in alongside the current swarm of light Christian pop-rock efforts. On the lyrical side of the coin, McRoberts uses fairly direct language to make his points, which most often detail his relationship to God and its associated struggles. Songs like "Follow You" convey the author's devotion to God (In your death I can live again/ If I die to the man that I am/ I will follow you, Lord, where you lead), while others, like "Be Still," (Back from heaven only moments ago/ Yet my heart has grown cold again/ But the love you gave/ It comes with a guarantee) relate the familiar theme of falling away. Still, as with the instrumental portion of the album, a healthy slice of McRoberts' lyrics are bogged down by the same sense of formula that beleaguers his musical statements.

Despite its weak points, though, Father still does have its share of distinctive musical and lyrical facets. The austere wording and story-telling approach of "After My All" (John's room is 314/ Mean's Dad's in ICU/ And after he is gone/ Gunshot to solve it all/ I see my efforts fail/ And I hit the wall) complement the composition's stark instrumental approach to make it a haunting narrative. And the melancholy phrasing of "Standing In His Place" (You were walking in as he was walking out/ The space that he was making, you came to carve out/ I guess a cup is only useful for the hollowness of its shape/ The brokenness in me/ Is the need that holds your grace) endow the piece with an inescapable sense of wistfulness. Musically speaking, McRoberts' greatest success comes when he ventures to either side of the light folk-rock that peppers so much of his release. "Heroes" seamlessly melds the classic melodicism of Badfinger with the quirky, energetic pop sensibility of Squeeze with most infectious results. And the syncopated, jazzy groove of pieces like "Intervention" is the perfect backdrop for McRoberts' more soulful and earthy vocal tendencies. Even so, the slower numbers such as "Ready When You Are" and the best-of-album "Form-Fitted," with their intricate, almost hushed, arpeggiatic guitar lines and palpable sense of reverence and intimacy offer McRoberts the most ideal foundation upon which to display his profuse vocal and musical talent. All in all, Father is a fine enough release, filled with likable songs and impeccable instrumental work. But, these are both held in check, for the most part, by the album's paucity of musical distinctiveness and lyrical weight. McRoberts undoubtedly possesses large portions of both sincerity and skill. But, he would do well next time out to wed those attributes to a more uniformly engaging set of songs.

3 tocks