Review:

on 2009-11-16 fortuneandspirits Said:

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's second album Summer of Fear affably marries simplicity with a musical style that could best described as "70's untidy." Confidence exudes from every pore which seems almost as much hubristic as it damn well deserved.
Summer of Fear is more content to let the sounds of the rhodes and the ever-present lilt of the lead guitar wash over you rather than hit you with any specific hooks. The sounds rise to crunchy crescendo at time and the totality of it sounds full, pleasant and approachably shaggy.
MBAR's greatest strength and most glaring shortcoming is his husky voice, which plays like a less articulate Mark Knopfler. When the noise level is at low to medium, his crooning cascades over the proceedings nicely, supplementing the psychedelic folk feel. On tracks like Always an Anchor, however, his singing and lyrics are swallowed up by the Teenage Fanclub power pop bombast.
Robinson is most comfortable in a folk-rock niche somewhere between "Like a Rolling Stone," "Love the One You're With" and "Romeo and Juliet."
The music itself is performed more than ably and he hits the feel of a 70's pop/rock record EXACTLY. Robinson?s style and songwriting, however, feels almost totally subjugated to his influences; pathologically unwilling to venture outside the little nook of retro-pop he's carved out for himself.
At 13 tracks, and clocking in at over an hour, Summer of Fear overstays its welcome during the first couple listens. There's a lot to enjoy and once Robinson sees fit to extend his notable pop acumen beyond the realm of his idols, there could emerge an incredibly friendly and original voice.

Rating: 7/10