After a less than fruitful decade of performing in the downtown clubs of Manhattan and a stint in short-lived trio Shiversaint, Irish singer/songwriter
Ryan Sheridan seemed resigned to running a bar in his hometown of County Monaghan, until he was spotted busking on the streets of Dublin alongside former bandmate Polish percussionist Artur Graczyk by indie label Rubyworks.
Sheridan's debut solo album,
The Day You Live Forever, bears the hallmarks of his well-worn background, with a number of songs that sound tailor-made for both rousing pub rock singalongs, such as the melodic AOR of the title track and the Motown-inspired "The Game," and for bellowing out across crowded city centers, including the shuffling nu-folk of the Mumford & Sons-esque "Jigsaw" and the rumba-tinged "High Roller," all of which showcase Graczyk's impressively frantic cajon skills. But somewhere along his travels, the baseball cap-wearing guitarist has picked up a few bad habits, most notably a nasal faux-Atlantic drawl, which sounds perfectly respectable on the old-fashioned rockabilly of "The Dreamer" but completely conspicuous on the lilting acoustic folk-pop of "All and More," and a tendency to drift toward the excessive '80s pomp of
Phil Collins and
Sting on the over-produced opener "Stand Up Tall" and chugging pop/rock of "Take It All Back," respectively, suggesting that the first Now That's What I Call Music compilation may have been a constant staple on his local jukebox.
Sheridan only really begins to shake off his reliable but mediocre "everyman" routine when he veers into mellower territory, as on the soothing alt-country of "Endless Road" and the chiming balladry of "Machine," but when compared to fellow native soft rock purveyors
the Script,
The Day You Live Forever is just a little too workmanlike to make the same impact. ~ Jon O'Brien