Todd Thibaud – Favorite Waste Of Time
At first listen, this album seems to be trying hard to be radio-friendly, which isn’t inherently a bad thing. The first four songs sound too formulaic, though, like the Hootie/Matchbox 20/Wallflowers sound that’s all the rage these days. Get past them, however, and things are looking up. “Cold” is a gorgeous, languorous song that sounds like it wouldn’t be out-of-place on a Duncan Sheik album. “What They Say” is an enjoyably sardonic look back at rock ‘n’ roll, and Thibaud does a knockout delivery of the lines: “I never thought about Elvis Presley, baby/When I was young he wasn’t all that cool/Looked like my father with a big white collar, baby/Standing in the kitchen singing ‘Don’t Be Cruel’.”
Thibaud’s songs work best when he drops forced attempts to incorporate twang and aims directly at rock ‘n’ roll, or when he backs off, dropping overblown emoting for a more understated intensity. “Wintercoat”, world-weary musings about loss, and “Johanna’s Dreams”, a love song and nod to Bob Dylan’s “Visions of Johanna”, are both beautiful. “2 a.m.” is another reflective song that pulls back the intensity to a more focused place instead of trying to overpower the listener, and is quietly compelling. Tacked onto the end of the album is a cover of Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road”, remarkable in that Thibaud’s voice sounds uncannily like Earle’s. Fooled me, anyway.