CD Review: Restless Radio - Stay Close To Me

Restless Radio – Stay Close To Me
2007 Restless Radio

When you first open Stay Close To Me, the debut CD from Boston-based Restless Radio, a single message is printed on the back cover of the front insert: “I Knew It Would Be You”. You, on the other hand, may never have seen Restless Radio coming, but you’ll be very happy they came into your life.

Eschewing the outright pathos of Robert Smth, Restless Radio deals in the sort of melancholy you might hear from Toad The Wet Sprocket or Jason Plumb. Thoughtful lyrics are combined with tight musical arrangements to create an enjoyable musical experience. Brothers Paul Erik Lipp (vox, guitar, synthesizers) and Jordan Lipp (drums, percussion, backing vox) are first class musicians with a keen ear for melody and an ability to juxtapose the maudlin and the sublime.

Stay Close To Me opens with After Love, a soliloquy on a love lost (My last bitter love affair lives on and on / Life has been such poetry since you’ve been gone!). Let Me Down, The Oven and Perennial Flower continue the parade of songs about love lost. This is a form of therapy perhaps, but the music is so good and the lyrics so well crafted you become enthralled in the songs.

Personal favorites are After Love and Go Are Gone (If life is like a chessboard, then darling, now I’m moving like a pawn / How the tears came once she left me, but some things that go are gone). Also check out Signs Of Love (I’m remembering falling in love with the world / Falling asleep with a girl who’s showing signs of love).

Restless Radio will interest you on the first listen, and hook you by the third. The Lipp brothers have crafted a worthy debut album, with hopefully many more to come. Pick up a copy, and if you’re in the Boston area maybe check out a live show. These guys are working hard at their craft and deserve your support.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Restless Radio at www.restless-radio.com, where you can order a copy of Stay Close To Me. You can also check them out on My Space.