Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com's Best of 2000
File this under low-fi psychedelia. Its woozy charm belongs chiefly to John Dragonetti, the leader of a virtual one-man Boston band. A major-label refugee, he's at his most direct on "We Could've Been Big"--a slap at superstar aspirations and the soul-killing compromises often required--but he sounds most comfortable exploring the kind of cracked-pop surrealism favored by Elephant Six bands such as Olivia Tremor Control. It's questionable whether he even knows what "Aviating myself into submarine skies made of glue" means, but bedroom symphonies rarely sound this good. --Keith Moerer
Amazon.com
With Soft Songs LP: Aviating, singer-songwriter John Dragonetti returns to his bedroom recording roots, recording by himself in a Paul McCartney one-man-band style. The 10 delightful songs on this album, which clocks in at just under 30 minutes, are a definite throwback, but not to a particular era or style so much as to a time when guitar-based rock really meant something. The music has a floating lilt, and lyrically the songs do the happy-sad thing about equally and very effectively. When confronted with such a succinct, charming statement as Soft Songs, it is difficult to avoid using clichés so why try? This is one delightful gem of a record, a stone groove-pop classic. Fans of the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, the Moles, Beck, and the Radar Bros. will have no trouble enjoying this thoroughly. --Mike McGonigal
Soft Songs LP: Aviating,Jack Drag,Sugar Free Records,Alternative Pop/Rock,Indie Pop,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop
Rock Music:
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