As I was enjoying Nick Piunti's cover of "Ruby Tuesday" on the soon-to-be-released JEM Records Celebrates Jagger & Richards compilation, it occurred to me that it has been a minute since Nick Piunti and The Complicated Men last released an album. Right on cue, the band has released a new two-fer of digital singles in advance of their forthcoming long player Up and Out of It (due out on JEM this fall). On "Bottle It" and "Get the Feeling," Piunti and The Complicated Men (Joe Daksiewicz on lead guitar, Kevin Darnall on keyboards, Jeff Hupp on bass, and Ron Vensko on drums) continue to churn out melody-driven pop rock of the absolute finest quality. Piunti is not just a master tunesmith but also a remarkable lyricist, and here he has given us a couple earworms of tremendous substance. "Bottle It" is truly a song for our times —a defiant call to not allow popular opinion and societal expectations to dictate who you are, how you live your life, and what you love. Piunti makes keen observations about the power we allow social media, technology, and advertising to have over our lives — much to our detriment in most cases. The song explores some of the most timeless themes of music and art (individualism, nonconformity, the finite nature of life) in a context that could not be more relevant. This is a tune you can feel good about singing along with! "Get the Feeling" is another first rate pop rocker featuring the clever refrain "Not a liar, not a cheat, just a vampire needing sleep." The entire song is a tour de force of personal, deeply self-aware songwriting, and of course it has hooks for days.
Here's the thing about Nick Piunti and The Complicated Men: You always know what you're going to get from them, yet it never grows tiresome. And that's because melody, well-crafted songs, and smart, relatable lyrics are eternal in music. This band has set the standard for what "mature" power pop ought to be. All we need to do is sit back and enjoy this amazing run of albums that Piunti began a decade ago and has continued with The Complicated Men. "Bottle It" and "Get the Feeling" are available now from all the major streaming platforms.
1 comment:
Wow! Thanks Josh for this amazing review! I think you're really gonna dig the new album
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