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[Off The Record]
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John Thomas Griffith
ALUMINUM
(LAUGHING GRAVY)

John Thomas Griffith has lived in Allston and New Orleans; he’s played punk and new wave with the Red Rockers and currently holds the lead-guitar slot in the well-liked Southern rock outfit Cowboy Mouth. His second solo album (on which he plays everything including drums) comes off as a mix of all the music he’s been involved with — and that’s a more diverse mix than you might expect. The wild card in the deck is his love for the Church, whose "Metropolis" is respectfully covered here, and David Bowie, whose Ziggy-era theatrics are echoed on "Man in the Spacesuit." It’s this combination of roots rock and art pop that makes Aluminum so intriguing.

The disc opens traditionally enough with the punchy "Southern Girls," which would make a great Cheap Trick song if they didn’t already have their own song with that title. But the best tracks are quirkier and more offbeat and certainly wouldn’t fit a Cowboy Mouth set. "Back to the Gun" tells a Western-outlaw story against a hip-hop drumbeat and even features a sax solo; "Keep Me Coming Back" sounds like vintage ELO of all things, with its layered vocals and keyboards and a mock-arena opening. Griffith allows himself a few flashy guitar solos, and he’s never been shy about writing big, anthemic choruses. Call this one roots rock with some creative cross-pollination.

BY BRETT MILANO

Issue Date: November 22 - 29, 2001

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