Martin's Musings

I’m just going to say it, credibility be damned: It’s so good to have Gavin DeGraw back. His Chariot is one of my favorite CDs of the past few years, and now his self-titled follow-up is out and it’s mostly worth the wait. I downloaded the album on Saturday from Jonny Ali’s Blog and have had it on almost constant rotation ever since. The first single and album opener “In Love with a Girl” is great, and I am really enjoying the pop-soul sound of “I Have You to Thank.” I’m also a fan of tracks two and three, “Next to Me” and “Cheated on Me.” Best of all, though, is the inclusion of “Cop Stop,” a song Gavin’s been playing live in concert for, oh, five years now that I’ve always enjoyed. Gavin DeGraw is not as good as Chariot — the first half is definitely better than the second, and it’s almost amusing how you can make a one-to-one comparison between some songs on the two albums (“Medicate the Kids” is like Chariot‘s “Chemical Party,” for example) — but the new CD is far from disappointing. I’m not sure why it took the guy five years to release a follow-up, but now that he has, it’s good to have Gavin back with some new tunes. Hopefully the new CD will push him to some real success this summer.

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You already know how I feel about the New Kids on the Block — ahem, sorry, NKOTB reunion. When they appeared on The Today Show this morning, tons of fans went crazy. I was driving around listening to Kiss 108 and that’s all anyone was talking about. (Sure, I know, there’s an ulterior motive there, but there were all kinds of stories of people driving hours to see them at a club tonight, and digging out all kinds of old NKOTB paraphernalia, etc.). Now, maybe it’s because I grew up in New York and not here in Boston, but I tell you: I just don’t get why this is such a big deal. I can appreciate wanting a favorite group to reunite, but not if it’s a teen pop group. I mean, look at those guys in the picture; I don’t really want to see them try to recreate their glory days all these years later. I don’t want to hear Joey Mac stretch his voice to reach the high notes in “Please Don’t Go Girl.” They’re grown men. I actually feel sorry for them having to do this — especially Donnie Wahlberg, who has tried so hard to get some credibility in recent years with his acting. How can we take him seriously again after this? Seeking a reality check, I asked a 30-year-old woman at Newbury Comics this morning if she was excited about the reunion, and she told me, “I lived through it once. That was enough.” That seems to be how I feel about it, except I skipped it the first time around.

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