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Simple Kid
1
(2m/Vector)
First Appeared in The Music Box, July 2004, Volume 11, #7
Written by John Metzger
It’s been over 42 years since Bob Dylan released his debut, and in that span
of time, countless other artists have been saddled with the baggage of being
dubbed "the new Bob Dylan." Despite the term’s being bandied about on countless
occasions in any given year, however, few of these performers ever live up to,
let alone survive, such fawning praise and the inherent expectations that come
along with it. Indeed, it’s as much a death knell as winning a Grammy for Best
New Artist, yet labels and management glom onto the phrase whenever it surfaces,
happily plastering it anywhere and everywhere that they can. The end result,
unfortunately, is that everyone is left feeling a tad disappointed.
Ciaran McFeely, who records under the moniker Simple Kid, is the latest to
fall victim to this scheme, and quite frankly, based upon his debut 1,
he’s not the next Bob Dylan, or the post-modern Bob Dylan, or any other Bob
Dylan, for that matter. In truth, he draws more from The Kinks, David Bowie, and
The Who, although he wraps it all within the contemporary styles of Beck and
Moby. The collection was largely created by McFeely on his 8-track recorder and
laptop, and in spite of his infinitely lofty ambitions, there is a digital
sterility that creeps into the otherwise lo-fi set, largely because the various
loops and effects threaten to whirl out of control, leaving behind an
ambience of cold calculation. Still, his melodies manage quite successfully to
ingratiate themselves within one’s subconscious, and his lyrics, which run the
gamut from lost-in-love laments to socio-political commentaries, are a cut above
the norm for a 23-year old lad. Even so, one has to wonder how George Harrison
can get sued for copyright infringement after he cleverly turned The Chiffons’
eminently infectious He’s So Fine into My Sweet Lord, but Simple
Kid can lift the main riff from The Cure’s equally blissful Boys Don’t Cry
to employ it just as effectively as his intro to Breakups Breakdowns with
nary a mention from anyone. 
1 is available from Amazon.com.
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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 © 2004 The Music Box
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