Rouse's idea of a drinking song: "Givin' It Up", a heavy-handed ballad about going on the wagon- "This is a world where no one feels sorry for you"- replete with lovematic Barry White strings. Songs similar to Josh Rouse - Quiet Town, such as Josh Rouse - His Majesty Rides, Griffin House - The Guy That Says Goodbye to You Is Out of His Mind. He'd need Mariah Carey's Olympian melismata to sell this brand of tacky sentiment, but Rouse is stuck with a strained Ryan Adams whine.Īt only 33 minutes, Subtítulo doesn't leave Rouse, longtime producer Brad Jones, and their small band much time to recover from such miscues.
Glossy potential single "It Looks Like Love" is equally vapid: "There goes that melancholy feeling again/ It looks like love is gonna find a way." As if merely mentioning sadness were the same as describing it. It's the worst thing I've heard this year that wasn't sung by Richard Ashcroft. Rouse's idea of a love song: "I'm so crazy about you/ So crazy and it's true/ I think you're wonderful/ Don't change," amid ebbing elevator strings. Rouse focuses on times and places, Subtítulo suggests, because he's not so hot at writing about people. And hey, if you're too cool for Jack Johnson's stoned beach bumming, there's always Rouse's scratchy impersonation on palm-swaying nostalgia trip "Summertime".
#JOSH ROUSE QUIET TOWN HOW TO#
Not a Travis reference, apparently: turns out the eponymous man just "doesn't know how to smile". Spanish singer Paz Suay lends her lilting accent to duet "The Man Who.", though the pedal steel, bossa nova rhythm, and L-train mentions muddle the geography. The video reminds me of our trip to Tuscany. Setting has always been important to Rouse's music, and laidback opener "Quiet Town" depicts the troubadour's current Iberian environs atop sunny Harry Nilsson finger-picking, weeping strings, and campfire whistling. Quiet Town was removed from Josh Rouse’s MySpace page, so I switched to another song, but I sought it out again yesterday because I had redesigned my blog to accomodate YouTube videos, and I wanted to try that out, so here it is. Sure enough, Rouse stays the course on Subtítulo, his first album since ditching his former label and moving to Spain. Subsequent pleasantries like Under Cold Blue Stars, 1972, and last year's Nashville conspired to render debut Dressed Up Like Nebraska a big, brooding alt-country fakeout. Rouse started settling into his current rut with his agreeable yet insubstantial sophomore album, 2000's Home. Here's a guy who claims he was ripped off by John Mayer, after all. For someone whose work emphasizes changing locales, singer/songwriter Josh Rouse has yet to travel beyond where-the-heart-is innocuousness.
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