Matt Costa- UnfamiliarFaces

Thu 20th Mar, 2008 in Music Reviews

Matt Costa is back and spicing things up. His new album, released March 8, is a more inspired and enlivened package. If Songs We Sing was cold, with star track Cold December, and a generally chilled tone throughout the album, then Unfamiliar Faces is its warm counterpoint. In fact, if you play the two albums back to back, they fit magically. Mr. Pitiful picks up right where Wash Away left off.

Apparently the new songs were inspired by Costa’s favorite stuff thrown up on a shelf, but I honestly don’t see it. These are some seriously abstruse references. It doesn’t matter. Whatever the inspiration, these are the same dreamy songs about platonic and romantic relationships as on his previous album. Unfamiliar Faces is about people, and memories of people.

Costa’s sense of surfer rock simplicity continues on his second album. He is that guy at the house party strumming guitar in the backyard. The problem is that Costa’s music is so familiar and casual, it’s easy to forget. The music – a soothing blend of blues, country, folk, and singer/songwriter rock – tends to blend into the background.

I am extremely thrilled to find that the CD booklet has the words. I love the words. And the series of pictures of (a surprisingly attractive) Costa is certainly a wall-worthy installment. Production matters.

How does the saying go? “Good musicians borrow, great musicians steal.” Costa has a strong tendency to sound like other artists. This is apparent throughout Unfamiliar Faces. Mr. Pitiful is a McCartney ditty, Never Looking Back is a Jet ballad, Vienna is a kitschy Cardigans-meets-Wannadies track.

At least he’s borrowing from a wide range of influences. Costa’s diverse musical background is both a gimmick and a downfall. Each song is singularly striking. Sometimes, however, the singer’s tendency to combine all his styles leads to songs that ramble. When Costa can cut himself short, rather than try to pack everything into each track, the songs are gems.

He gets down to his country roots on Miss Magnolia. The song’s twang is pleasant rather than annoying. The “la-de-da” chorus, though, is pretty blatantly taken from Mungo Jerry’s In The Summertime. The album’s title track is a Shins -y romp, with a doo-wop inspired piano. Costa’s style is reminiscent of Money Mark at times. The song’s vibe, which is hinted at throughout the album, is childish and sing-songy, perhaps a reference to the memories inspired by his shelf o’stuff.

Emergency Call is a disappointingly trite jingle (case in point: a chorus of “doctor” shouts) with a surprisingly decent ending. Costa has conjured up the spirit of Hanson. Drunk women will dance to this at festivals and block your view of the stage. Bound is as heavy as the chains he’s referring to. This is country swagger straight from the railroad tracks, and totally appropriate for a song about a “devil” of a woman that has Costa in her clutches. I’m convinced the White Stripes would cover this song fabulously.

Costa’s songwriting is honest, humble, sincere, and generally touching without being too deep and emotional. The album has an overriding sense of warmth, even on the slower, sadder tracks. This album won’t be changing lives, but it will probably put smiles on a few faces.