My buddy, the great singer songwriter Scott Severin (whose Birdhouse Obbligato improves with age) clued me into Omaha, Nebraska’s old fashioned and somewhat prolific Matt Whipkey.
Whipkey has been working on a future that has remained resolutely regional for years but he is that good regional that makes you think that a succession of classic rock and rolls bands with names like the Movies and Anonymous American, were just a banger away from some form of wild fame and fortune.
It hasn’t happened yet and while I have only listened to his sprawling, ambitious Penny Park: Omaha, NE: Summer 1989 once I would be surprised if this is the one to do it. Surprised but not shocked. I will wait till it is officially released June 22nd to say much more about the album, except hidden on the double are two songs of the summer. The long intro to “Waterfall” has rings of notes like a spritz on a summer day: it is all sunlight and might have made a better instrumental but maybe not: the lyric is prosaic but it has a jumped out warm glow of a now and a nostalgia and Matt maneuvers the wordy lyric with assurance. The guitar break is Raybeats good.
“Been Waiting” is a Tom Petty meets the Byrds (or is that redundant) meets a Brit explosion, it is all Rickenbacker heaven performing double duty. An untidy Velvet Underground steal on the chorus, the melody is unique enough that it works as a sleight of hand update that adds a cloud of sadness to the summer of 89 theme.
Waterfall: A-
Been Waiting – B+