Todd Bogin - The Midwest Fables

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 3 / 10 / 2006

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Review

The release of Todd Bogin’s debut album represents a victory for a man who first overcame partial deafness, a speech impediment and a learning disability and then escaped the boredom of his hometown by making an impulse decision to move to New York City, where he formed a backing band, wrote some songs and made this album. But Bogin is locked into a vicious circle, writing about genuine sadness, and pleading, “I can’t seem to drink you out of my mind” but also romanticising the lifestyle of the confessional ‘singer-songwriter’, asking “what’s so wrong with being lonely ?”. He embodies the contradiction found in many modern singer-songwriters, writing what they hope are honest songs about genuine feelings, but singing to an audience who is suspicious that they are just aping heroes. That audience - who probably share those very same heroes - needs to be persuaded why this particular singer-songwriter is worthy of their attention. There are, after all, plenty about. Bogin will have his work cut out. He is a decent guitar player, and his harmonica playing is nicely Dylanised. But his songs are rarely revelatory. Third track, ‘Relax’ has a similar melody to Lou Reed’s ‘Rock and Roll’, but lacks that song’s subtle graces. Others lift styles and sometimes even melodies from Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’. Even the best songs - such as the mournful ‘Going Back To Chicago’ or ‘Rented Time’ (which isn’t dissimilar to Uncle Tupelo’s earlier, upbeat moments) - are held back by Bogin’s often flat, never distinctive vocals.

Track Listing:-

1 Solitude
2 Flying On
3 Relax
4 What's So Sad About Being Lonely?
5 I Want To Be An Astronaut
6 Going Back To Chicago
7 The Fall
8 TJ Bogin's 21st Delta Blues Dream
9 Rented Time
10 Write Your Own Dream
11 The Confusion Of Thaddeus J. Snead
12 Outburst
13 The Karma Of Abbot
14 Moving And Growing Old