JEFF MELLIN: Good for a Gander

Jeff Mellin

Good for a Gander

© 2001 Jeff Mellin (634479223921)

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Beautiful melancholic folk-pop with smart lyrics and lush 60s arrangements

tracks

1 You, Sweet You
2 Oh Possum!
3 Lake Erie
4 Blue Corduroy
5 Weight of the World
6 Ain't No Ash Will Burn
7 Blue I Am In Sweatered Unsorted
8 Delusions of Gander

notes

Sublime folk-pop from the producers of Miss Mary's "Hey Blue!"

Good for a Gander, Mellin's follow-up to his "tour de force"* Jeff Mellin Saves the World, is a record you'll lose yourself in. Lush arrangements. California cum Liverpool harmonies. A record of sad songs that will make you happy. Not that it's morose by any means-it flows over with Mellin's melodicism, lyric wit, and pop sensibility. But throughout there's a comforting melancholy, like a blanket pricked with pinhole stars pulled up over an incandescent moon.

Musicians on Good for a Gander include the Midnight Cowboys, namely Dimitri Fane (Slide, Jess Klein) and Ken Schopf (Slide, Dennis Brennan), Joel Mellin (Oscillators), NY City folk-singer Kristin Mueller, and cult producer/musician Pete Weiss.

Produced by Joel Mellin (Miss Mary, Oscillators) with Jeff Mellin

*the Noise, Boston

reviews

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  • Good For A Gander is een mooi plaatje dat van mij gerust wat langer had mogen du
    author: Katrien Tielemans, Rootstown Freezine (Netherlands)

    Acht nummers en net geen 24 minuten muziek staan er op deze tweede cd van Jeff Mellin. Dat de Amerikaan uit het goeie hout is gesneden, wordt al duidelijk vanaf de rustige intro van openingsnummer You, Sweet You, dat voortkabbelt op een lo-fi gitaargeluid en een bijna wanhopige zanger laat horen. Mellins songs zijn niet onder ?©?©n noemer te vatten, maar dat hij voor Oh Possum de mosterd gehaald heeft bij een viertal dat ooit vanuit Liverpool opereerde, is geen geheim. Dat doet evenwel geen afbreuk aan de kwaliteit van het nummer. Die sixties sfeer hangt trouwens een beetje over de hele cd en doet soms denken aan The Fountains of Wayne, die ook creatief omsprongen met de muziek uit die tijd. Knap is ook There Ain't No Ash Will Burn ¬ñ met een orgel als extra begeleiding ¬ñ , een duet met folkzangeres Kristin Mueller. Op Blue I Am In Sweatered Unsorted begeleidt Mellin zichzelf op akoestische gitaar. Een mooie afsluiter is dit, die alleen nog wordt gevolgd door enkele achtergrondgeluiden. Good For A Gander is een mooi plaatje dat van mij gerust wat langer had mogen duren

  • stripped down pop music with a nice genuine feel
    author: babysue

    We were going to describe this as folk/pop but somehow that didn't seem appropriate. Then it occurred to us that perhaps it was Americana...but that term is so damn...overused... We eventually settled on describing the music of Jeff Mellin as "organic pop," a phrase which pretty much sums up where this guy is coming from (although readers should be aware that these compositions do feature electric guitar). The tunes on Good for a Gander as basic, stripped down pop music with a nice genuine feel. They are not buried in effects and five billion vocals (an approach used by many modern pop bands). Instead, Mr. Mellin seems content to let his songs speak for themselves without the use of clutter. The songs are nice and mellow and flow by like a pleasant little stream in the forest. The vocals are smooth and sincere. Favorite tracks: "Blue Corduroy" and "There Ain't No Ash Will Burn."

  • rollicking and laid-back
    author: Jesse Ashlock, Epitonic.com

    By turns rollicking and laid-back, Good for a Gander features a hint of Merseybeat, a taste of California sunshine pop, a dash of Americana, and a whole lot of Jeff Mellin.

  • good listenin' music
    author: Doug Treadway, Nightflying

    ...of another era, a time when people weren't so worried, so consumed, so driven. It's just good listenin' music, the kind of thing you can put on while you feed the little animals or your soul, whichever comes first. I think maybe we need more of that along about now.

  • worthy of greater attention
    author: Eric Sorensen

    Add Jeff Mellin's name to the growing list of folk-pop artists worthy of greater attention.

  • upbeat depression
    author: Tim Sullivan, Urban Tulsa Weekly

    sparse arrangements, gentle, rolling melodies, and lyrics of love, loss, and loneliness, in an eight track compilations I can best describe as 'upbeat depression.' Melin sounds like early Paul Simon (as in when he was w/Garfunkle-Simon) or Nick drake, particularly on acoustic tracks like 'Lake Erie.' 'Oh, Possum' and 'Blue Corduroy,' with thier reverberating harmoines and jangly guitars, sound like the Beatles covering '60s california pop. However, even the upbeat tunes have a melancholy sense about them; Mellin's songs are the songs you would like to hear when you are feeling depressed about being happy, or vice versa.

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