Hailing from Boston, home of
the Magnetic Fields,
Don Lennon crafts one of the funniest serious albums with
Downtown. In a voice that echoes
the Magnetic Fields' brilliant
Stephin Merritt, and with eclectic pop music in the vein of
Robyn Hitchcock and
John Cale's jauntier solo work,
Lennon sets his sights on pop culture icons, and he's unmerciful. Count them -- two songs making fun of
Dave Matthews should have listeners laughing out loud.
Lennon sings as
Dave Matthews on the upbeat
David Byrne-esque "Matthews Comes Alive." Then, on "Really Dave Matthews,"
Lennon remembers himself in his college dorm on a coed's bed (with, what else -- a
Dave Matthews poster over it), and when "she accidentally touched my hand, I was so happy that I lied and said I liked
the Dave Matthews Band."
Lennon proceeds to tackle
Lenny Kravitz, the gay nightlife scene, foreign exchange students, and
John Cale, and then finally pays homage to
the Mekons with the psychedelic country tune "Mekons Come to Town." The greatest thing about the humor on
Downtown is that
Don Lennon is so sincere about being hilarious. With such a sublime balance between the melancholy and the ridiculous, these songs should be in a Wes Anderson film. ~ Charles Spano