Ok, so I'm often to be heard complaining about the lack of musicians who pen eloquent, literate lyrics, beefing about the lack of depth or intellect most contemporary acts display, but I'm also well aware of the adage that no-one likes a smart-arse.
Owen Franklin, an English undergraduate, has produced an album that's brimming with literary references and witty wordplay. The album's title, a play on James Joyce's 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man', along with titles like 'The Tempest' and 'The Not-So-Great Gatbsy' provide a fair indication of where he's coming from, and also what to expect.
The trouble is, Owen's not as clever, well-read or amusing as he thinks. I know it's self-defeating to rely on references so obscure as to lose the listener before the disc even makes the player, but the ones he's gone with are so far beyond obvious he may as well give a run-down of his A-Level syllabus by way of a track listing. Plus, he can't really sing all that well.
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The result is an album that's supposedly influenced by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel (I expect he was popular listening to that lot in halls) but more often than not ends up sounding more like a third-rate emulation of Morrissey, only not nearly as witty or well crafted.
Owen Franklin Online
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