It was the usually prescient Dorothy Parker who remarked that men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses. Obviously, she didn't live long enough to know Robert Ray and Dale Lawrence, or at least hear this fine debut. If the songs these two craft out of elliptical bits of unfinished (or one-sided) conversations are to be believed, girls wearing glasses are the ones who interest them most. A dozen near-perfect roots pop tunes (one co-written with pal
Walter Salas-Humara of the
Silos) address simple concerns, like driving and changing the world all around, to a steady four-four beat that just about accomplishes that latter feat with only the occasional syncopated accent. Recommended. ~ Brian Beatty