Around the Square, and Then Some

Now that we're well within the holiday season, it's high time to start freaking out about what to buy everyone on your shopping list. Might Seattlest be so bold as to suggest some good old-fashioned ukulele pop?

We were first made aware of Jeff Solomon in September during SketchFest, when we were way entertained by his comedy troupe Elephant Larry. His mad music skillz were on display in a few of the group's sketches, and we made note of that. After the fact, wise Solomon sent us a copy of his EP Around the Square, which we vowed we would review in a timely manner. We did not. Instead, we spent the past two and half months doing anything but: going to a whole mess of live shows, listening to other bands, seeing movies and plays, curing cancer.... Eventually, we started to feel guilty and realized that we needed to write a bona fide review, or else the already tenuous blogger-bloggee relationship would be betrayed. And then we'd get much less free stuff. We certainly couldn't allow that to happen.

All bribes aside, we've been listening to Around the Square a lot lately, mostly at work. We find this EP to be pleasant enough---not edgy or reinventing the wheel, but we weren't expecting that from a guy who plays a mean ukelele and sometimes breaks out the falsetto. The witty wordplay and internal rhyme, especially in the opener "Temporary Song," remind us of another singer/songwriter, and Solomon's arrangements (featuring guitar, piano, drums, cello, horns, and pre-programmed beats) are equally sophisticated. Occasionally, his instrumentation is a bit too much for our liking. Case in point: use of alto sax and clarinet smacks of White Guy Smooth Jazz, which makes us go "ugh." Still, his simple tunes make for good background music. It's an album that you could buy for your mom without any worries. After giving it a listen, she'd probably say, "That Jeff Solomon sounds like such a nice boy." We'd have to agree.