Adam Richman
Patience and Science

(Or Music)

First Appeared in The Music Box, May 2005, Volume 12, #5

Written by John Metzger

The Mohawk hairdo and pierced lip sported by Adam Richman on the cover of his full-length, major label debut Patience and Science may be meant to convey some semblance of rebellion, but the album’s contents show few signs of punk-rock attitude. Instead, it features a standard blend of pop and rock that falls somewhere between Fountains of Wayne and Ben Folds, and by the third track Broken Glass, Richman is wrapping his adolescent musings on life and love in the buoyant strum of an acoustic guitar before allowing them to erupt in a blaze of angst-filled agitation.

Perhaps what is most notable about Patience and Science, then, is that it is the epitome of the DIY ethic. Leaving behind his political science studies at George Washington University, Richman traveled the country performing for anyone who would listen before he retired to his parents’ basement to record the compositions he had penned. Granted, he’s not the first or last artist to try this tactic, but few come away with as professional sounding a product as Richman has. The carefully constructed layers of sound that grace each track serve only to enhance his extraordinarily infectious melodies, and although the songs themselves amount to little more than candy-coated rock, they’re also strong enough to warrant more than a cursory examination. While Patience and Science might not change the world, it undoubtedly will launch Richman’s career, and if he’s given time to mature, he one day might craft something worthy of the widespread recognition he’s likely to receive from such an ambitious effort.

Patience and Science is available
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Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2005 The Music Box