Former Face To Face frontman Trever Keith has a solo album out now that (instead of aiming for the typical singer-songwriter fare or the country-infused rock now popular with so many ex-punks) sounds a lot like… well, like Face To Face. Melancholics Anonymous picks up where my least-favorite of all Face To Face albums, Ignorance Is Bliss left off. In other words, this isn’t the classic pop-punk of Big Choice or Don’t Turn Away. It is a bit slower, more layered, more atmospheric, and fits somewhere between The Foo Fighters, Heavens, and (of course) Face To Face.
On my first listen to Melancholics Anonymous, Keith’s familiar raspy voice is about all I thought that the album had going for it. I mean, there are too many synthesized strings, drum machines, and other typically over-indulgent sounds packed into these songs, right? Melancholics Anonymous lacks the bite and the driving fervor of Keith’s early Face To Face material, right? Maybe. You see, this is what happens when punks grow up. You will too someday kids. They “mature” and paint from a much wider musical palette. They slow down just like Blake did. As much as I love full-throttle punk rock, I find it hard to imagine listening to or playing it all day, every day. Aging indie rockers have it much easier since their slowdowns aren’t nearly as drastic. It begs the question, “When is it enough?”
That’s truly a difficult question with an answer that is unclear at best. The more I listen to Melancholics Anonymous the more I seem to understand where Trever Keith is coming from. I’d be tempted to make the same sort of record too. I’ve recorded enough songs that aren’t at all dissimilar in sound from those on Melancholics Anonymous to know just how easy it can be. The more I listen to this record, the more I like it. It is Trever Keith as he is now; middle-aged and still making the music he wants to make. Yeah, I think I really like this record so if you are willing to accept Trever Keith as more than just the singer of Face To Face and judge Melancholics Anonymous on its own merits, you may really like what you hear.
MP3 | Trever Keith – Polish Melancholics Anonymous
MP3 | Trever Keith – Half Asleep Melancholics Anonymous
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