Kill Henry Sugar - Sell This Place 
Label: Surprise Truck Entertainment
Rating: 
 

There's been a lot of talk lately about the rebirth of the singer/songwriter in music. However, it's hard to observe that trend when said singer/songwriters seem to spend most of their time basking in the crapulent glow of their own pop star status.

So here we have Erik Della Penna, a.k.a. Kill Henry Sugar, a singer/songwriter whose aspirations actually do mirror the folk stylings of the original 1970s movement that birthed Simon and Garfunkel and Taylor and such.

The songs on Sell This Place are quiet little narrative tales set over guitar, bass, and the softest elements of the drum set. Della Penna is at his best when he's telling stories about or through characters. He grabs you and pulls you in on "Mussolini," about the actual Italian dictator, treating him less like a despot and more like another fashion victim kid up to no good. He holds your ear with "The Way It Works," which starts off as a tale about Jerry, who sends his drawings to the "as seen on TV" National Art Institute to see if he's talented. Rounding out the pack are the twanged-up "Rodeo," literally about life on the rodeo circuit, and "His Trumpet's Gone," about loss (naturally).

And while Sell This Place is not a pop album, it's not a somber one, either, or at least not entirely. Della Penna is out to get freaky in the house of God on "In the Mission" and calls out a poseur on "Little Faker."

These are all strong songs, but like many albums, sometimes the momentum runs out. Della Penna could have dropped the last four songs off the album, including the title track, and created an even more terrific masterpiece. One of those four songs, "Decorations," on which Della Penna is backed by piano, sounds like hackneyed Britpop more than anything else. "My Hook" is a quaint little ditty but never really rises to the occasion like its brethren. But that's our eleven-to-thirteen song album culture, folks.

VERDICT: Sell This Place is one of those albums you can enjoy on a lazy, calm summer afternoon. The songwriting is intelligent without being witty for witty's sake. If you like lyric-driven artists, there's certainly little on this album for the words to hide behind, which is all the better. Cut the album down, it's a masterpiece. Keep it as it is, it's still pretty damn good.

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