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Ethan Larsh breaks hearts.<\/p>\nEthan Larsh breaks hearts.<\/p>\n
It kind of writes itself, doesn\u2019t it? Not only as a first sentence for a record review, but also as a title for a record. It rolls off the tongue easily. It\u2019s simple. It\u2019s right to the point. And, above all, it sets the tone for a collection of music that ebbs and flows so naturally, it\u2019s hard not to wonder how much of that title is a wink and a nod, or how much of it is a confident declaration of one\u2019s past romantic escapades.<\/p>\n
Such is what makes \u201cEthan Larsh Breaks Hearts\u201d so fun: toeing that line between being in on a joke and being taken too seriously. The album, in itself, touches on all the tropes a good, old-fashioned rock album should: sex (or, in this case, perhaps, love), drugs, and \u2026 well \u2026 rock and roll. Presented in the context of quirky piano pop, though, it\u2019s beyond refreshing to hear someone so confident in who they are as both a musician and an artist.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s be honest: It takes a healthy dose of self-awareness to concoct the one-two-punch that is \u201cCoca-Cola\u201d and \u201cI Miss Cocaine.\u201d The two tracks running back to back, \u201cCoca-Cola\u201d begins with a faint piano blues boogie before the band mildly kicks in and Larsh immediately begins listing off the brands of soda that don\u2019t impress him. This, of course, leads to a chorus that feels like the moment the sun finally sheds the clouds around it, offering a bright and radiant proclamation that Coca-Cola is \u201cthe best drink money can buy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet because the message is so<\/em> obvious and so<\/em> innocent and so<\/em> plain, you don\u2019t think Ethan Larsh, the man who breaks hearts, could be talking about \u2026 oh, wait. Yes, he could be. And, yes, he is.<\/p>\n \u201cI Miss Cocaine,\u201d landing right after the ode to a soft drink, is a love letter to the famous white powder that oh-so-many musicians love to frequent from time to time. What makes the trick work, however, is Larsh\u2019s grinning vocal riff that splits the hook: \u201cI miss cocaine\/and how it effects my brain,\u201d he begins before playfully admitting, \u201cI\u2019ll say it again.\u201d Presented over ballad-like longing, the turn is so unexpected that it works, both in sincerity and purpose. If you\u2019re not smiling yourself, you don\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n And getting it is half of what makes these 12 songs so intensely endearing. \u201cBreaking Up The Band\u201d opens with only piano, strings and vocals, and while the music is decidedly pretty, the singer\u2019s words are cutting as he confronts what sounds like a frenemy about a collaboration that\u2019s turned sour. The brilliance comes when the chorus hits and Larsh impressively evokes the Beatles with boppy work on the keys and a pop-tastic electric guitar riff, all before the strings return and the best Top 40 hit that 1971 never heard unfolds.<\/p>\n Yet while McCartney is a great influence on which to call, what makes Larsh so compelling is his chameleon-like ability to switch up sounds. \u201cBelleville,\u201d for instance, feels far more Ben Folds Five than it does Fab Four \u2014 right down to the singer\u2019s voice, which doesn\u2019t not recall some of Folds\u2019 solo work. The constant smirk that lurks behind everything also makes it hard to ignore the comparison. An uptempo introduction to the record (save for the 30-second \u201cIntro\u201d), it\u2019s the perfect greeting from an artist as charming as he is talented.<\/p>\n Perhaps the set\u2019s greatest achievement has little to do with what he does here and rather with what he doesn\u2019t do, which is slide into an uninteresting, predictable formula that would bog the album down. \u201cMost Of The Time\u201d is even kind of \u2014 kind of<\/em> \u2014 funky, fainted cowbell and all. Touching on praying to God, losing his mind and \u201ca Hot Topic in a sea of shopping malls,\u201d it\u2019s a sad kind of happy dance that the pianist brings to the floor.<\/p>\n \u201cTick Tok (We\u2019re All Going To Die),\u201d in all its Randy Newman-esque glory, then addresses the happiest of subjects \u2014 death \u2014 with jangly pop and even a few horns that jazz up its surroundings. And \u201cYou Don\u2019t Know Me\u201d is a fantastic shot of piano-driven classic rock with a chorus that definitely deserves to be heard by millions. It\u2019s Exhibit A when wondering if this guy is merely a victim of being born during the wrong era of pop music.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean, of course, that Ethan Larsh doing Ethan Larsh things in the current day should be ignored on any level, even if his chance at superstardom may have washed away with Elton John\u2019s peacock-backed jackets. In fact, it should be even more reason to lend your ears to his efforts if only because nobody else is doing this kind of stuff locally \u2014 let alone doing it as well as he\u2019s doing it.<\/p>\n \u201cHow was it when you broke my heart?\u201d the singer asks toward the end of the record. If it sounds anything like the way he did it here, the guess would be \u201cpretty darn good.\u201d<\/p>\n *** 3 STARS OUT OF 4 ***<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ethan Larsh breaks hearts. It kind of writes itself, doesn\u2019t it? Not only as a first sentence for a record review, but also as a title for a record. 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