Tom McBride "Headed For" (Wicked Good) Sounds like: If O.A.R. were a one-man-band without much spunk. Grade: C+
There is some really good local music in the D.C. area, but the jury is still out on Tom McBride. His new EP, "Headed For," is a work of some highs and some mediocrity. The album starts off promising with "Revelry" and makes one think of Johnny Cash with a bit of Eddie Vedder. There is a nice southern flair to the music, and there is a high recording quality. But the next song, "Diana," is very disappointing. It's not bad (as long as you don't mind songs that could be right off a Hootie and the Blowfish album), just bland. The third song, "Headed For," leans back to the side of country with a catchy, somber melody and a definite hint of Vedder. The penultimate song, "Big Ideas," sounds as if the spunk were taken out of an O.A.R. track. The live-studio version of "Tried and True" comes out as the catchiest song on the album. It breaks the pattern of the preceding tracks. You can feel McBride open up in the chorus and it gives you a sense feeling and emotion from him not seen in the earlier tracks.
Though there is promise that he could be a good singer-songwriter, two of the five songs are so unemotional that the other songs could be flukes. The ideas are good, but more emotion is needed.
-DAVE STONE
