James Iha
Let It Come Down
Virgin
It’s easy to warm up to Pumpkin Iha’s first solo album of wispy, Lennon-influenced pop-love songs. Unfortunately, it’s more difficult to actually remember any of these tunes when the album is over.
It’s a shame that Iha and Corgan don’t write songs together, since, based on this pleasantly rambling album, Iha has a low-key pop savvy which might actually work as an effective ying to Corgan’s generally overblown, overproduced yang. But Iha solo just doesn’t possess the percolating personality or hummable hooks that he needs to turn these inoffensive ballads into something more memorable. There’s nothing wrong with Let It Come Down, and it’s refreshing to hear Iha’s own sensibilities run to the more subtle colors of the ballad spectrum, but I also can’t imagine wanting to hear it a second time. Pick it up for a couple of bucks when it hits the cut-out bins in a year, and groove to its low-key, and often charming, melodic pop flow.
