Jason Falkner: Necessity: The 4-Track Years

Whether as a backing player, bandleader, or solo artist, Jason Falkner has consistently made pop music that deserves but never quite achieves breakthrough success. As a guitarist on Jellyfish's fine debut, frequent collaborator with Eric Matthews, and co-leader of the musicians' collective The Grays, Falkner specialized in textured, orchestral pop, attracting loyal fans and underwhelming sales. Later, his solo albums Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown and Can You Still Feel met a similar fate, despite featuring some of the best work of his career. With a background in baroque psychedelia and a genius for immaculate arrangement, it's hard to imagine Falkner releasing a collection of low-fidelity demos, but Necessity: The 4-Track Years is just that. Still, it's far from the collection of raw throwaways and half-formed ideas its title implies, illuminating the pure hooks at the core of his songwriting. Opening with a full-blown, non-four-track ringer in "She's Not The Enemy," Necessity then settles into an ingratiating array of more modest pop music, all recorded on the trusty four-track he bought at 19. The sound quality is understandably a bit washed-out, but the songs are catchy as anything, from the bash-and-pop of "Take Good Care Of Me" to the jangly ballad "Song For Her." Those unfamiliar with Falkner's past work should start with either of the polished gems that precede Necessity—for starters, five of its songs are more fully developed on Author Unknown—but it's a surprisingly worthwhile addition to his outstanding and under-appreciated canon.