ZACK HEXUM
"THE STORY SO FAR"
(Trauma, 2004)
Don't you just love it when an album that you buy almost as an afterthought turns out to be one of your favorite music purchases from that whole year? I do ... and what's more, the year is barely half over and I can tell you without a doubt that this album will still be very near the top of that list on December 31.
Zack Hexum's brother, Nick, may be co-founder of the alternative band 311, but don't expect to find any trace of that group's punk/rap/metal mixture here. In some ways, this is the opposite: laid-back but lively pop-rock, full of hum-along hooks and toe-tapping melodies, all wrapped together around Zack's snappy and appealing voice. "How Many Times" is the song that brought him to my attention (when it was a free download on iTunes), a breezy tune that's pretty-much representative of the album; "Spicy Streak" is one of the rockier songs on the disc,but begins with a cool, jazzy intro; "Outside Opinion" sprinkles in a bit of blues and a bit of country; but my favorite has to be the closing track, "One Spin", a spry, funky anthem that would make Jason Mraz proud (and also shows off Zack's saxophone chops).
My only regret about this album is that I wish I'd discovered it as soon as it came out three years ago, when I could have told everyone I know about it, so they would have rushed out and bought it and given it that critical new-release support ... not that a dozen or so sales would have rocketed it into the Billboard Top Ten. But hey, it's still in print, so go out and buy it now! You'll thank me later.
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