Note: This review previously appeared in the Illinois Entertainer.
Singer-guitarist PT Walkley travels across several genres while delivering quirky tales and an offbeat philosophy on his latest effort, Shoulders. His talky, mannered vocals are a good match for the material, although he occasionally sounds like he’s going overboard with his singing and his lyrics. Mostly though, Walkley is entertaining while steadfastly playing by his own rules.
Shoulders is the type of album where Walkley follows the line, “It’s all right to be disgusted with yourself” with some festive Latin horn playing on “Rose-Coloured Glasses.” The guitar-driven “No Time To Sweat” concerns a contented family man who’s nevertheless bug-eyed over a hot woman he encounters. Walkley’s vocals are too precocious on the ballad “Children,” but he makes the acoustic-based “Silverdollar Pancakes” and “Hello Eyelids” clever and engaging. The funky “It’s Alright” evokes Prince and Sly Stone; “Lost My Way” has a dramatic 1970s hard rock stomp; and Walkley closes this eclectic collection with the big, Bruce Springsteen style rock of “A Toast.”
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