Joe Giddings

Better From Here

Kool Kat Musik

Giddings' power pop is reminiscent of Fountains of Wayne, especially on the song that's something of a tribute, “Amity Horror.”

FoW were trailblazers, and Giddings breaks more ground just by presenting and sometimes ribbing himself as an ordinary person, like on the song “Irrelevant.”

All of these songs nicely rock, even the quiet ones. They're melodic, and more complex lyrically than their directness would indicate. This album is clearly a winner.

Andrea Weiss