Nick Piunti & The Complicated Men “Up And Out Of It”

Regular readers of www.thesoulofaclown.com will know that we are huge fans of Nick Piunti. He’s got to be one of the best and most hardworking song writers around at the moment. He’s produced so many great albums, chock full of great power pop. That means that the only question now is if he has been able to keep the extremely high standards he’s set.

The opening two tracks “Seasick” and “Bottle It” immediately confirm that yes, this is yet another great set of perfectly crafted songs. He just has a knack of penning tracks full of melody that have just enough punch to stop them feeling too sweet. That reference to sweet is relevant as songs like “Mind Reader” and “Above Water” have the same kind of melody and appeal of the great songs by power pop legend Matthew Sweet.

To be honest, this album is so chock full of great songs that it almost feels like it’s too easy for Nick. But, that is seriously underplaying how hard it is to get this right. There are many song writers who would kill to write tracks with the instant appeal of “Get The Feeling” and “Rejection Letter”. Writing neat little pop songs is really hard and it’s a bit of a shame that these probably won’t get the mainstream attention they deserve. But those in the know and who have a love for the likes of Elvis Costello, Butch Walker, Kurt Baker and Ryan Allen etc will just lap up these songs.

This is an album written by an artist that really knows his stuff. Heck, he even makes sure he sticks with the perfect formula of keeping it down to 10 songs. That makes it a super tight album, with no fillers, and one that keeps you engaged until the end. Although we expect once you get to the end you’ll just press play and listen to it all again.