In today's digital age, any kid with a MacBook can record multi-layered tracks from the comfort of his or her own bathroom. For the most part, this is great: It gives thousands of talented artists an outlet to lay down some pretty good music. The flipside of the coin is that now every schmuck with a guitar and feelings thinks his emotions are significant. Secondhand Serenade's new album, A Twist In My Story, is just another instance of a man spilling his heart and nobody else caring.
Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist John Vesely's biggest problem is songwriting. He makes honest efforts to change elements in his instrumentation, but each song still feels like it has already been written before and worn out its welcome on Kiss FM.
In the title track's stale second verse he sings about his heartbeat"" while his guitar mimics the heart's lub-dub rhythm. He recycles those same empty guitar strums and vocal harmonies on every song, rarely adding any distinguishable instrumentation to differentiate from track to track.
Nothing on this album, including the lyrics, sounds fresh. At some point, the lyrics jump from heartfelt to illogical, as on the title track when he sings, ""Stay with me, or watch me bleed."" The problem is, if she doesn't stay she doesn't have to watch anything he's doing, especially not some desperate cry for attention.
In addition, the term ""heart of stone"" usually means it will remain strong even under tragic circumstances, but Vesely must be confused because, as he describes on ""Stay Close, Don't Go,"" his ""heart of stone will sink until it dies.""
Almost all of Vesely's lyrics on A Twist In My Story exhibit a level of commitment that would warrant admission into a psychiatric ward. Every song is an anthemic ode to self-loathing and dependency. Lines like ""I was born to tell you I love you"" and ""Don't tell me I can make it on my own"" expose an unhealthy reliance on the object of his affections, as well as an incurable helplessness. It's no wonder his lover leaves him in nearly every song given the obsessive tendencies he describes. Who would want to stay with a man who admits, ""Sometimes I watch you while you are sleeping""?
Throughout the album, Vesely's ""story"" never actually materializes, much less its ""twist."" The only twist might be that Vesely simply can't write.
