Don Lennon isn't the guy's real name. It's a joke, see. It rhymes with John Lennon. Tell someone you just read a review of the new Don Lennon album, and then have the corresponding irritating minute-long conversation where you get to differentiate the obscure Don from the known John. In essence, this is all you have to know about Don Lennon's music.
Don Lennon is an adequate singer and an adequate songwriter whose sole claim to being more than adequate is his knack for pop culture references. With these references, Don serves the independent community with pride, providing references that only the independent community will get. Laugh at Don, get cool points for being on the "right" side of the fence or for being in on the joke.
Don's foremost fascination on Downtown is with Dave Matthews. "Really Dave Matthews" opens the album where Don tells us a story about how he lied once about liking Dave Matthews in order to escape the solitude of his freshman dorm room and gain a friend. It's a situation many who listen to Don will have been in, the use of (and focus on) Matthews' name making the song a bit more comedic and a bit less personal or intimate. Matthews' name appears two songs later on "Matthews Comes Alive," whose spoken word parts sound a bit like an interview CD—the complete history of Dave's beginnings. Musically, though, this isn't much like Dave; "Matthews Comes Alive" is roller rink pop. Matthews isn't Don's only arena rock target, as the next track is about "Lenny Kravitz and Lisbon." The song perhaps shows why Don isn't the greatest lyricist as the song only really is saying that Lenny Kravitz played a show in Lisbon one night and a lot of people showed up; Don doesn't offer much insight into either Lenny or arena rock shows in general.
As a longtime resident of Boston, Lennon also finds much about his scene, both musically and socially, to sing about. The song titled, appropriately enough, "The Boston Music Scene" is about Lennon's still held hope that local music can be fruitful in Boston, even though everyone he knows in Boston music seems to be a talentless jerk. "Gay Fun" is a joyful, bouncy song about going to gay clubs; Merritt could never be this jubilant. "The Night Kramer Met Ann" crosses a reference to the formation of Bongwater, the band, with Lennon finding a pot-smoking partner.
Lennon's Downtown is an entertaining listen. The songs are well constructed and well sung. Lennon's pop culture references serve to make the songs more initially endearing, but the references are paper thin; even Barenaked Ladies' songs about Yoko Ono and Brian Wilson are more sly and revelatory than Lennon's fascination with Dave Matthews or John Cale. While Lennon never is as banal as the Barenaked Ladies, the feeling that the Barenaked Ladies have more to say about the figureheads of music culture makes it hard to recommend Don's music.
|
