Jonathan Rado - Law and Order [CD]

2013 solo release from the Foxygen member. Jonathan Rado is a songwriter, a staid performer, an evangelical producer; the 23-year-old California native's solo project is a deliciously self-conscious piece of esoteric apocrypha. On his debut solo album Law and Order, the San Fernando Valley and the Lower East Side flirt over muddy coffee, get married over corned beef, and give birth to a Motown drum beat - but something is amiss. For example, there is no bass line on LA-psychedelic-dance-jam 'Seven Horses,' and not a single hand clap satisfies the droning singer's gently repetitive request, 'If you feel it all, clap your hands.' 'Hand in Mine' sounds like an idea Johnny Cash had while sleepwalking through a fever dream. 'All the Lights Went Out in Georgia' is a self-loathing diary entry thrown into a fire, and 'Pot of Gold' gets too drunk, freaks out and starts hitting on everybody. So Rado wraps up the album and apologizes to everyone, promising not to invite that guy over anymore.