PAUL DOUGHERTY I’m Only In It For The Money (Self-released)
These 8 tracks from Paul Dougherty are definitely not for those who are looking for slick production or tight instrumentation. This in itself does give it character; it feels like something you’d hear at a live show.
My favourite song by far is Just A Guy In A Band, a pleasant mid-tempo nostalgic track that could’ve been sung by James Taylor. Following behind is the atmospheric Voyager, quite different from the other tracks, with the delays on guitar and plenty of reverb on vocals creating an ethereal, reflective mood to match the lyrics.
I Go To Pieces brings to mind the Beatles, with the catchy melody and lyrics in the same vein (“hurry hurry home, don’t leave your man alone”). But the verses’ lyrics are somewhat clumsy to hear.
Mail Order Bride and Helicopter are more reminiscent of Zeppelin, Helicopter being an angry rant about war (likely referring to Iraq) from the perspective of suffering soldiers.
I Want A Girl Who Loves Yoko is endearing on first listen, but does start to seem a little high-school-garage-band-ish after a while. Strange choice to end the album with.
One complaint I have overall is that the vocals seem to be lacking in depth and emotion. I guess a reference could be made to Dylan, throaty and potentially distinctive, but Dougherty’s vocals just doesn’t resonate with the meaning of the songs, which is a pity.
(Desiree Boey)