Steven R Brooks may, at first glance, possess little to distinguish him from the scores of wannabe musicians with access to a recording machine and backing of a record label. However, scratch beneath the veneer of ironic songwriter and you might discover a sensitive artist attempting to come to terms with a world gone berserk.
Much of Like the Moon features Brooks and his trusty acoustic guitar as he bares his soul in a self-loathing manner that is as fascinating as a train wreck. But when Brooks decides to give his austere material the full band treatment, the result is the dazzling "Small Change" where echoes of Neil Young & REM dart to and fro this puzzling tribute to low self esteem -- "If pennies and diamonds should rain down we'd wade through small change on the ground."
In similar vein, is the ominous tone of "Sunflowers," where Brooks narrates a disturbing tale of self-destruction -- "she says she's a good girl, an angel but smarter with stains on her wings."
Thoughtful without being self-consciously so, Like the Moon, is a diamond in the rough, which upon closer examination should reveal more than mere 'small change.'
3.5 tocks
