antiReviews:
Kill
Henry Sugar - Sell This Place
Review by Dan Grote
Kill
Henry Sugar - Sell This Place
Label: Surprise
Truck Entertainment
Rating:   
There’s been a lot of talk lately about
the rebirth of the singer/songwriter in music. However, it’s hard to observe
that trend when said singer/songwriters seem to spend most of their time
basking in the crapulent glow of their own pop star status.
So here we have Erik Della Penna, a.k.a.
Kill Henry Sugar, a singer/songwriter whose aspirations actually do mirror
the folk stylings of the original 1970s movement that birthed Simon and
Garfunkel and Taylor and such.
The songs on Sell This Place are quiet
little narrative tales set over guitar, bass, and the softest elements
of the drum set. Della Penna is at his best when he’s telling stories about
or through characters. He grabs you and pulls you in on “Mussolini,” about
the actual Italian dictator, treating him less like a despot and more like
another fashion victim kid up to no good. He holds your ear with “The Way
It Works,” which starts off as a tale about Jerry, who sends his drawings
to the “as seen on TV” National Art Institute to see if he’s talented.
Rounding out the pack are the twanged-up “Rodeo,” literally about life
on the rodeo circuit, and “His Trumpet’s Gone,” about loss (naturally).
And while Sell This Place is not a pop
album, it’s not a somber one, either, or at least not entirely. Della Penna
is out to get freaky in the house of God on “In the Mission” and calls
out a poseur on “Little Faker.”
These are all strong songs, but like many
albums, sometimes the momentum runs out. Della Penna could have dropped
the last four songs off the album, including the title track, and created
an even more terrific masterpiece. One of those four songs, “Decorations,”
on which Della Penna is backed by piano, sounds like hackneyed Britpop
more than anything else. “My Hook” is a quaint little ditty but never really
rises to the occasion like its brethren. But that’s our eleven-to-thirteen
song album culture, folks.
VERDICT: Sell This Place is one of those
albums you can enjoy on a lazy, calm summer afternoon. The songwriting
is intelligent without being witty for witty’s sake. If you like lyric-driven
artists, there’s certainly little on this album for the words to hide behind,
which is all the better. Cut the album down, it’s a masterpiece. Keep it
as it is, it’s still pretty damn good.
Listen
to samples and Purchase this CD online
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