The Real Danny Malone

As I've always said before, it's nice sometimes when you get completely thrown for a loop. One minute you are completely against skinny red-headed white-boy singer-songwriters in wifebeaters doing rock star leaps in empty parking lots and then the next minute you cannot (for the life of you) stop listening to the songs of said rock star leaper. It's insane.

Welcome to the Real Danny Malone (I think he primarily goes by 'Danny Malone' but his Myspace page is "The Real Danny Malone" and I think that much more accurately captures this guy's vibe, if you know what I mean).

As any frequent reader here knows, I'm a huge fan of good songwriters and this kid has such a complete knack for stringing a good song together. The techniques he sometimes employs are not always my typical faves (think Ben Folds piano, subdued emo yells, and lots of country action), but in his hands they all work. And his dynamics are so on.

Take "Sweet Annabelle" as a case study...
0:00 : Simple acoustic and vocal intro.
0:33 : Stronger acoustic build (with violins no less).
0:52 : Singing gives way to anguished (don't take me too seriously) yell complete with the occasional falsetto twist (thank you Martin & Buckley).
1:25 : Back to that build, doubled up with the "dah dah dahs".
2:02 : Uh oh, drop out time. Cue the bass drum.
2:07 : Cue the piano.
2:11 : Cue the frenzied violins.
2:25 : Cue the tambourine.
2:35 : Cue the handclaps.
2:45 : Cue other ambiguous percussion.
2:57 : Set the band loose on another noisy ride.
... and on and on... Is that a kids' chorus? How many harmonies can we handle? Did you just yell "hey"? Guitar feedback? A guitar solo? Did you just cut out again? More violins?

On paper it couldn't look more cliche. But in song, he completely pulls it off. I really shouldn't gush like a 14-year-old girl here, but I'm totally into this guy's tunes. Go Texas.

Danny Malone - "Sweet Annabelle".
Danny Malone - "Like A Curse".

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