Published on Mar 8, 1999
Some publicists might ask why I don’t like reading press
clippings of artists before listening to the albums of their
clients? Simple: A good review might falsely set me up for what I
think will be a killer performance, while a bad or mixed review
might scare me away from touching a disc for a few weeks. (If you
saw the growing pile of promotional discs in the “to be reviewed”
section of the Pierce Memorial Archives, you’d know that I have no
shortage of things to listen to.)
In the case of Massachussetts-based musician Jeff Onore, his
disc
What Happened To Jeff came on a heavy mail day – and, to be
honest, reading one review that said his voice was not the
strongest wasn’t the strongest endorsement I’d seen for bumping a
disc to the top of the list.
Granted, Onore’s vocals aren’t the strongest – his sound is
similar to that of John Prine meeting Lowell George in a bar for a
few drinks. But
What Happened To Jeff is an album that, for the most part,
rises above any weaknesses and proves itself to be a charming
independent effort.
Onore has a gift at providing sometimes biting social
commentary; his pictures of love gone wrong on “Say Hello To Linda”
and “Twenty Years” are poignant (though the subject of stalking is
a sore one with me), while “Tap Tap (Online)” is an all-too-true
account of the realities of dealing with people in cyberspace.
Often, Onore goes the route of speaking his vocals – and on a
track like “Money And Sex,” this works to the best advantage of the
song. It adds a more sinister, dark side to the story of a woman
who does not find honor in the way she earns her living.
If you were to label Onore as a comic performer in the veins of
“Weird Al” Yankovic, you’d be doing Onore a disservice. While there
definitely is a sense of humor in Onore’s music (“Dental
Hygenist”), Onore’s style has roots more in the social commentary
than the humor. It reminds me a little of the work of Tom Lehrer,
in a sense.
Only the ending of the album (“Monster On The Campus,” “Sunday
Night Blues”) drags things a bit, but for the most part,
What Happened To Jeff is a surprisingly open, solid album
that should bring Onore more attention than just in the New England
area. Who knows, in due time, the whole nation might know what
happened to Onore… he went on to be a star.