The Honorary Title

Item: Anything Else But The Truth
Author: Justin Brinker

Anything Else But The Truth

(2004)

Reviewed by Justin Brinker

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Label Doghouse RecordsDecapolisJune 2004

folk rock indie rock singer-songwriter

I usually cringe when I hear an artist being compared to Chris Carrabba. It's not fair to the artist, it's not fair to their listening audience, and for the record it just annoys me. I am extremely glad that those who compared Jarrod Gorbel and The Honorary Title to Chris Carrabba would be the same group of people that would claim that Good Charlotte influenced The Clash, and for that alone their references hold no weight. For starters Carrabba's vocals can't hold a candle to Gorbel's, whose voice alone carries Anything Else but the Truth. Couple that with good songwriting and you have a very solid release.

The Honorary Title is a two-piece band, with Jarrod Gorbel on vocal duties and guitar and Aaron Kamstra on bass and keyboards. The album kicks off with the midtempo "Frame by Frame" with acoustic guitar and piano. "Bridge and Tunnel" picks it up, and sounds like a Death Cab for Cutie song driven by picking guitar parts and bass. The album takes a turn with "Cut Short" which features a slide guitar on the chorus where Gorbel sings, "Encounters with police, with my hands in the air" which adds a whole new element to the musical side of the record.

In "Points Underneath" there is a very heavy 50's love ballad influence, and this is where you begin to see Gorbel's vocals really shine. "Revealing Too Much" features the slide guitar again along with Gorbel screaming, "I hope I am not revealing too much" without sounding whiny or contrived. "Disengage" is a country soaked track in the vein of the Old 97's; while the folksy "Petals" holds its own. Lyrically at times Gorbel struggles. For example, in "Cut Short" where he sings, "we could be like onions and peppers in a sleeping bag fajita" or the line, "I give you mad crazy props, because I know I should" can seem extremely trivial. Lines like the ones mentioned above are so few and far between that they are easy to overlook. Anything Else But The Truth is produced by Roger Moutenot of Yo La Tengo and Guster fame and is a perfect fit for The Honorary Title.

I guess the best way to describe this album would be folk-pop but there is so much more going on. At times I hear The New Amsterdams, but you cannot deny the Jeff Buckley and Elvis Costello influences either. This is a very strong debut that sets itself apart from anyone else doing this. Don't be fooled by people making false comparisons that are far from the truth, Anything Else But The Truth is definitely something you will want to hear.

3/4