My Friend Steve
Hope & Wait
Mammoth
On the first listen, I found the dozen songs to be pleasant enough, but not what I expected from this Orlando band. Then I dug into the liner notes. Imagine my surprise! Except for Steve Burry himself, this isn’t My Friend Steve at all, just Steve with four other guys.
The music is competent but uninspired; the lyrics are, for the most part, insipid. Steve’s trademark song, “The Schooling,” is here as the lead track, but it doesn’t sound like the same song we loyal fans remember from countless live shows in and around Orlando. The rest of the material sounds like the typical Seven Mighty Gumwrapper 20 pap to come out of Central Florida of late.
Track six, a sort of nifty country-flavored number titled “Better Left Behind,” makes one wonder if he is referring to his old band. In the last song, “Car Flips,” Steve sings, “Let it be said I sold you out.” Indeed, he seems to have sold out his band, his friends, and his fans. Overall, he would have been better off staying home and doing those incredible shows at the Sapphire Supper Club. Mammoth Records, The Broadstreet Building, 101 B Street, Carrboro, NC 27510-1834
