Pat Buchanan has an unflinching love for melody and the ability to honestly deliver them with a warm wistfulness best earned by experience. Pat erupted from the gate in 1999 with the Idle Jets' "Atomic Fireball" which sounds pretty much like you'd expect it to with a title like that; high-energy pop songs delivered with a laugh and a nod over the shoulder. 2002 saw the release of Pat's first "true" solo record (Idle Jets was all but a solo project performed by a band), a balanced, lush exploration of everything between romping rockers and orchestral chamber pop. Pat's third (or second) effort "St George" expands upon the framework set by the previous records; heavier rockers and dreamier pop.
"St George" eases in with "Sweet Amnesia", sounding irresistibly Henry Mancini and Brian Wilsonesque at the same time, setting the stage for possibly the flashiest pop Buchanan has yet delivered â€" "I Can't Worry". Backed by his live band (the um... Idle Jets, actually), Pat's confidence is palpable and arresting. Some of the tunes are half-awake love songs ("The Fairest of Seasons", "Count the Ways"), some are graceful-yet-bombastic rockers ("Halo", "The Same Tree", "We'll Talk") and some mine territory not yet explored on Pat's records â€" he almost evokes Muswell Hillbillies-era Kinks for a moment on the expertly-penned "Patience", XTC on "For What It Was" and the unavoidable Macca on a near-handful of his strongest songs.
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