Published on Jan 23, 2002
When I was in college, I went through a phase where I listened
to almost nothing but theBeatles and Simon & Garfunkel. I
suppose this would not be unusual if my college days were in the
60’s, but I went to college in the 80’s. Singer/songwriter Jim
Boggia, who appears to be younger than me, seems to have gone
through the same phase, and if you include The Beach Boys, Todd
Rundgren, and Cat Stevens, you have a good chunk of the influences
that make up his new CD,
Fidelity Is The Enemy.
Boggia plays up the nostalgia element by dividing up the track
listing on the CD into two sides, including track 7, which is a
snippet asking the listener to turn the record over. Also the CD
cover is a young boy listening to a portable record player, while
the back cover shows Boggia doing the same, with a bunch of 45’s
scattered all over the table. However, while the music on
Fidelity Is The Enemy is a tribute to the pop, folk, and
rock of an earlier era, Boggia proves there are still new wrinkles
to this sound.
The CD starts off with “So Full”, a heartfelt, acoustic-oriented
song that is folk-pop perfection. But wait: fasten your seatbelts
because the second track, “Toy Boat,” jars the listener and is the
one concession to modern music with an alternative rock sounding
chorus in what seems to be slight parody as Boggia sings with
modern day angst, “Say Toy Boat/Fast Three Times/In A Row/I’m
Tongue Tied”.
While that may be a rocky beginning, the rest of
Fidelity Is The Enemy deftly balances between soulfulness
and technique, much like fellow Pennsylvanian Todd Rundgren did on
his classic
Something/Anything. On the technique side, you have the
bouncy “Bubblegum 45’s”, which surely would have been a hit at a
time when songs became popular because of their catchy melodies.
His Rundgrenesque sense of humor shows up on the bonus track which
I will call “Humbug” and literally sounds like it could be part of
the
How The Grinch Stole Christmas soundtrack right down to the
“You’re A Mean Man, Mr. Grinch” type vocals.
But the most ambitious track is “Peter Pan”, an unapologetically
psychedelic track that celebrates the playful spirit of the title
character. The instruments played on this track include a
basketball, a bicycle bell, an indian drum, a slinky, toy piano and
flute, and air organ, to create the woozy sound that is topped off
with a sample from the Beatles instrumental, “Flying”.
OK, that takes care of the Beatles, next comes Simon &
Garfunkel with the pretty folk ballad, “Winter” where Boggia sings
both parts of the harmony, in different pitches, and steals the
guitar part from “Homeward Bound”. The Beach Boys? Well, this is
where I am a bit peeved. I saw on the track list “Don’t Talk (Put
Your Head On My Shoulders)” from
Pet Sounds , but playing the CD, Boggia only gives us twenty
seconds of the harmony part. Bummer.
Playing name that tune is enough to make me smile, but what puts
Fidelity Is The Enemy over the top for me is Boggia’s
ability to write strong songs. The lost love ballad “Black And
Blue” will break your heart, but there is a sardonic wit at work
here to keep the song from becoming maudlin. Boggia also hits the
mark in the soulfulness department with “Several Thousand” and
“That, For Me, Is You” that show the sunny side of love. Not only
are they well-written songs, but Boggia has the vocals to deliver
them. I would say his voice resembles a more soulful, less whiney
Don Henley.
If those songs show Boggia’s sweetness, he also displays a sour
side with “O/P”, which I presume stands for Optimist/Pessimist
because he tells whoever to stop whining and bitching like a
pessimist and be an optimist . There’s also the playful, slightly
bossa nova track, “Nothing Wrong With Me”, which defiantly
proclaims that the relationship ended because of you, not me.
Fidelity Is The Enemy is a tour-de-force, and quite an
amazing CD for a debut. Heck, it’s quite an amazing CD, period.