Published on Mar 12, 2004
Coming from the same, breezy vein as John Mayer, Michelle Branch
and Sheryl Crow’s spunkiest works, Viki Nova arrived on the scene
in 2001 in true breakout fashion: she talked her way into opening
for The Barenaked Ladies and Train during a music festival.
Her 2003 release,
Catch Me if You Can! may be on a small label (Think For
Yourself Records), but close your eyes and lean back and you would
swear the album would feel right at home on Universal or Sony
records. Nova’s ear for a poppy hook and her songwriting skills
make
Catch Me if You Can! seem like a guilty pleasure listen at
one moment, and a genuine stab at creating a great album the next
moment.
The topics are your typical singer-songwriter foray: general
listlessness (“Nothing Changes”), getting involved with the wrong
person (“Addicted”) and empowerment (“I’m Yours”). Sometimes, she
can nail a mood down in one line (“Who knew I needed you to be my
best?” she sings in “Addicted”), and then drop the tired “moth to a
flame” metaphor in another song.
Uneven songwriting isn’t Nova’s only problem. Too often, she
tries too hard to emulate songwriters of alterna-past. One song,
she seems to be trying to re-create Gwen Stefani’s manic spirit,
another she tries in earnest to replicate Sheryl Crow’s countrified
bohemian quality. All of these artists are great, but a lot of
Catch Me if You Can! sounds like background music at a really good
coffee house.
Still, it’s a really, really good coffee house. I’ll still take
this album over Liz Phair’s latest. And if you turn off your inner
critic, it’s hard not to enjoy ear candy like “Too Much” and “At
All Costs.” Perhaps the best compliment I can give to
Catch Me If You Can! is that after listening to it once and
putting it away for about two weeks, I still had the leadoff track
buzzing through my head.
So who is Viki Nova? Is she a great songwriter willing to be
surrounded by great production like Gwen Stefani? Is she a
straight-up rocker or will she do a radical departure and go
hardcore on her next release?
Catch Me if You Can! doesn’t offer much in terms of answers.
It’s good enough to make you curious of her next move. Hopefully
with the right producer and songwriting risks, Nova can eventually
reach the same level as her influences.