Louis's Friday Pick: JOSH FIX - FREE AT LAST

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know Bruce has touted this on the Not Lame website with his usual ecstatic glee, but dammit if he's not right! Josh Fix's latest album FREE AT LAST, really is one of the best albums I've heard this year. No lie!

Mixing the beautifully heavy wall-of-sound Jeff Lynne / ELO sound with soaring Freddy Mercury vocal-stylings, the first track, "Don't Call Me in the Morning" has that great 70s operatic (but still rocking) sound that you hear very rarely, as does my other fave track, "Whiskey & Speed". He's like a more masculine Mika, whose album, BTW, was my favorite of last year. Fans of Mark Mallman, L.E.O. and solo Ben Folds will appreciate this quite a bit too, I'd imagine.

Listening to this though, it kind of makes me realize how much I really don't like too much new music. Too many new bands try to sound like Hinder or Three Doors Down or some such shit, totally forgetting harmony, melody and GASP, actual singing ability. It seems like the only new singers I tend to gravitate to have booming, multi-layered choruses and big finishes. (Speaking of which but completely off topic, I just became a big Barry Manilow fan last week too, when I bought on a whim the ULTIMATE MANILOW compilation. Gotta love songs you can sing along to!)

Here's the video for "Don't Call Me in the Morning":



You need this album NOW!!! Click here to order it from the NOT LAME website.

Josh Fix's website.

Josh Fix's MySpace.