The Nature of Things...

The Nature of Things by David Suzuki Jon McKiel had been a real adventure for me to get my hands on, but based on the three singles ('War on You', '123 My Friends', and 'Somebody's Listening')I had sitting on my computer I figured it was worth it to keep bothering people until I got a copy. So, Allan ended up forwarding me a copy - as he sometimes does - and, here we are.

The album? Much different than the singles, I think. I was under the impression that McKiel was kind of a power-popper, kind of like a solo version of Two Hours Traffic or something. Turns out, he's more of a mid-90s alterna-rocker, and sounds a little more like ... well, he could've been on Muchmusic when I was in high school. He could've been a guy that had his singles on Big Shiny Tunes. I think what should've tipped me off was the use of the word 'cocaine' on 'Somebody's Listening'... only alterna-rockers use the word cocaine...

Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. I've listened to the album, say, 6 or 7 times to and from school over the last couple of weeks and I can say that it has a little more depth, at least musically than your average, straight-ahead alterna-band. At times, I think the lyrics, themes, etc. are a little generic, but in spots the lyrics are pretty on point ("I put on my indie rock clothes and go and see a rock and roll band/we look like a hundred bucks just tell me where its cool to stand")... its just like he's talking to me... swoon...

The result? It's probably not a life changing album - I've been sorting through my Best of 2008 files, and there are I'd say at least a half dozen of them so far this year, life changers, that is - but its an album that, in 6 months when I'm scrolling through my iPod I'll say to myself "yeah, that was pretty good" and throw it on...

[mp3] Jon McKiel - 123 My Friends