Artist: David Zollo
Album: The Big Night
Label: Trailer Records
Year Of Release: 2001
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Tracklist:
01. While You Undress
02. Eye of the Needle
03. Why Don’t You Stop Me Now
04. The Big Night
05. Get Away
06. You’re Gonna Get What You Wanted
07. Lonesome Childhood
08. Respect (Ain’t a One Way Street)
09. Take Me Away
10. Driftwood from Kerry
Zollo’s rootsy songs and his band’s loose, shambling grooves form a perfect match on his sophomore album. The feel shifts with the subject of each song; “While You Undress” is a lascivious grin, like a Rolling Stones take on cowboy punk, but “Eye Of the Needle,” with its George Harrison-like slide guitar and nasal monotone vocals, presents a gospel message in cadences that recall the Traveling Wilburys. More than anyone, Zollo evokes John Mellencamp, through his dusty lyrics and appealing, rough-edged delivery. With admiral economy and straight-talking eloquence, Zollo finds new perspectives on timeless topics; “Get Away,” the only non-original song on the album, is a head-bobbing rocker that stands up to the toughest standards of songs about small-town kids with big, distant dreams, while “You’re Gonna Get What You Wanted” conversely celebrates the virtues of hanging around, over an equally contagious shuffle beat. But Zollo also shows a knack for tackling offbeat subjects from a populist angle, as on “Respect (Ain’t a One Way Street),” an unlikely blue-collar meditation on etiquette. The Big Night is a snapshot of a significant talent in its first flower, a preview of what may be the next great voice of the Americana genre.
