John Amen
Ridiculous Empire
Cool Midget
This excellent collection of warm, drippy blues songs mixes the correct proportions of delta angst and post modern misery to find a new path through the guitars, keys and drum kit bar sound we all grew up with. John Amen writes clever and engaging songs that don’t consider pickups, cheap beer or line dancing as the highest expression of humanity’s existence. He makes references to classical mythology (“Harbinger and Alcohol”), religion (“One of These Days”) and Dr. Seuss (“Crazy Ballroom Nine”), and makes stories of the mundane as interesting and attractive as the genre paintings of 16th century Holland. Mr. Amen can play with blazing urgency when a song demands it, then slide right down into minimalist love ballads (“Taking it as it Comes,” “Love Song #52”) without missing a note. Amen writes, paints, and forges an intellectually challenging rendition of modern urban blues, suitable for those of us that commute to work in a freeway and only see horses in movies.
John Amen: http://johnamen.com • Cool Midget: http://coolmidget.com
