M. Ward - What A Wonderful Industry ( Audio CD ) 01/18/19

Albums featuring ironic, snarky titles and/or cover art can be a double-edged sword. While the subversive and provocative are surely a lure for some prospective listeners, more often than not, records failing to live up to their name or face will anger their audience. Such is the case for M. Ward's self-released, What A Wonderful Industry - an exercise in what can happen when high-concept meets with mediocre execution.

Whispy, vaporous tracks like "Shark" (love the G-funk synth whistle flourishes), "El Rancho" and "War & Peace" are all fine enough but offer so little sonic meat they come across as little more than filler. Similarly, the upbeat "Motorcycle Ride" and surf-y "Return to Neptune's Net" are lovely throwbacks to the Rock n' Roll of the early-1960's. But they only prove M. Ward to be quite adept at crafting music that sounds 50 years old. There is very little here that feels new or invigorating and the message about the music industry is lost amid Ward's sub-Dylan ramblings about various archetypes.

CONDITION: NEW

TRACK LISTING

1 Arrivals Chorus
2 Miracle Man
3 Shark
4 Motorcycle Ride
5 El Rancho
6 Sit Around the House
7 Kind of Human
8 A Mind Is the Worst Thing to Waste
9 Return to Neptune's Net
10 Poor Tom
11 War & Peace
12 Bobby