On
Share It!,
Paul "Snoflake" Taylor (that's right, "Snoflake," without a "w"), who wrote, sang, and played most of the instruments on the disc, displays a "jack of all trades, master of none" quality, ranging from style to style as if he were trying to re-create the sounds of an eclectic record collection dating back to the 1960s and up to the '80s. There is mainstream rock ("Just Can't Wait That Long Anymore"), bossa nova ("Share It"), '80s soul ("Candle"), country ("Not Still Lost in TN"), folk/pop ("Learning Curve"), power pop ("Make Your Echoes Go Away"), electro-funk à la
Prince ("Relentless"), and blue-eyed soul ("Perfect Reflection") before the album concludes with an easy listening instrumental. Overdubbing numerous instruments,
Taylor plays just well enough to suggest the style he's going for, but not well enough to really compete. If
Lionel Richie heard the shambling, shifting rhythms of "Candle," he'd fire the drummer;
Hall & Oates would ridicule "Perfect Reflection." The difference, of course, is that the originators of these styles really believe in them and play them slickly.
Taylor is just having a laugh. This is most evident in his vocals, which are rudimentary at best, rarely up to even the more modest demands of the styles he draws from. Actually, he is at his best on "Relentless," perhaps because the prominent rhythm track is machine-made and therefore maintains its groove, while the vocals are recessed in the mix.
Taylor clearly is aiming for a D.I.Y. approach, and that he certainly achieves. It's just that he's applying that approach to pop styles that demand technical ability and discipline, not just messing around. ~ William Ruhlmann