Album Review: Josh Kelley's "Just Say The Word"

In his third album, Josh Kelley has produced another batch of easily digestible pop songs that older fans of John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, and Dave Matthews Band are sure to enjoy. Kelley, who has toured with DMB, is a similarly soothing crooner with a smooth production style. His songs, while sometimes veering into predictability, are usually easy on the ears and occasionally genuinely moving. Props to him, this time, for releasing the album on his own label.

Too Much of The Same Good Thing

Josh Kelley is a talented guy. He manages, with a sound that rarely deviates from listenable, to pen -- with the help of a handful of contributors (including the well-known hit-makers The Matrix) -- eleven perfectly good pop tunes on this album. His voice is in tune, his guitar sound is polished, his grooves, which alternate between fuzzed strums to funk-light echoes, are in time and resonant.

The strongest song on this album is by far the title track, "Just Say the World." It manages to sound, effortlessly, like the single on an album full of could-be singles. However, even the strongest tracks on this album, while being of the highest quality, don't offer much to the sonic landscape that wasn't there before Josh Kelley entered the studio. Which means, ironically, that his album may have a chance of selling quite well. Though I would be shirking my duty as your alt & indie guide if I didn't point out that this album is not so much "alternative" as it is a solid, albeit predictable, collection of pop songs.

Listening to Just Say the Word is like listening to an above average hour's worth of light radio. It feels good, it soothes weary ears, but it doesn't offer that mysterious element of challenge -- be it emotionally, musically or otherwise -- that makes a very good pop album into an essential part of the contemporary cultural landscape.

Highlights/Lowlights

It's hard to point out tracks on this album that stand apart from the rest because of the consistent quality of these tunes. However, "How The Story Goes" feels particularly derivative -- veering away from what makes Kelley most himself and sounding a great deal like a Jason Mraz b-side. On the other hand, "Mississippi Girl," which also varies from the rest of the album -- featuring only acoustic guitars and two male voices -- feels, in its nakedness, like the album's most honest song, musically and lyrically ("She would sit alone by the bank/ Always comin home so late/ She'd take off all her clothes and jump in/ I'll be giving up man if she'd be givin in").