Gavin DeGraw

GAVIN DEGRAW
"GAVIN DEGRAW"
(J Records, 2008)


"Untamed"


Knowing how fickle the American music-buying public can be, I dread to wonder if Gavin DeGraw might have disappeared into obscurity if he hadn't lucked out in getting his song picked as the theme for a hit TV series (the WB/CW drama "One Tree Hill", for those of you who might have been living under a rock for the last four years), because he's far too good for that to be his only claim to fame. Now, after waiting four long years (five if we don't count the two-disc "Stripped" version of his debut album, "Chariot"), our patience is finally rewarded with his sophomore disc.

Perhaps the most notable change in this album is that DeGraw centers the sound of his songs much more on guitar than on piano, as he did with his debut; consequently it has a slightly more rockish sound. He also gets a bit more socio-political on this set, with a scathing commentary on our prescription-happy society ("Medicate The Kids") and a positively funky anthem for brotherhood ("Relative"). Other standouts include the beautiful ballad "Young Love" (which, with its "combat" metaphor for romance, could be seen as a sequel of sorts to Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield"), the sing-along-inducing "I Have You To Thank" (which I think oughta be the next single, the silly "makeup"/"break-up" rhyme notwithstanding), and the semi-spiritual closer, "We Belong Together".

The album isn't quite perfect -- though the melodies are consistently excellent, the lyrics in songs such as "Cheated On Me" and "Cop Stop" leave me unimpressed -- but it's one of the best I've heard so far this year, and every bit as good as his debut, if not perhaps a bit better. I just hope we don't have to wait another four years for his next album.