Review: Josh Ketchen & The 1,000′s – “We Don’t Belong Here”

January 26th, 2010 by Oswald Hobbes / Comment on this post

I’m usually wary of singer-songwriters; ever since Bob Dylan redefined what one man with an acoustic guitar could accomplish in 1963 (the year he released The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, his first album of original material), sensitive dudes have been strumming away in an attempt to get laid and seem smart. Josh Ketchen is a singer-songwriter, but he’s one of the good guys: his debut album We Don’t Belong Here (with backing band the 1,000′s) is breezy backyard pop free of pretension and brought to vivid life with bold, unfussy arrangements.

My first thought when I started playing We Don’t Belong Here was “This sounds like Vampire Weekend.” A dozen spins later, and I think that was a pretty retarded thought for me to have. The clean guitar lines do recall the less frenzied moments from VW’s first record, but this is a more tranquil listen overall, with a few lazy waltzes perfectly complimenting the hopped-up likes of “Say So” and “Riverside.” If this album reminds me of anything, it’s not another artist so much as the simple feeling of walking around on a sunny Sunday afternoon without a care in the word. (Well, OK, it also recalls The Smiths, especially “Dream.”)

Lyrically, Ketchen traffics mostly in romantic longing. It’s not exactly a new topic, but the dude does it right – without whining or self-pity, and aided by a generous, gentle spirit. And he builds songs the right way – in tiny increments, drawing power from small human details. In a song about a missed date (“Riverside”), for example, Ketchen focuses on the way he checks the time and straightens his tie rather than describing his emotions – he doesn’t need to make the melancholy lyrically explicit, because his voice can do the heavy lifting on the chorus. We Don’t Belong Here is consistently small-scale in a way that I find refreshing and actually pretty wonderful; this is the definition of a “sleeper.” It’s catchy without being overpowering; it’s a record that invites you in and lets you hang out without getting all clingy and pressing for commitment.

We Don’t Belong Here is like a party that you’re kind of not sure of, but you go because it’s Friday and you’re not doing anything else, and you end up having an awesome time. You don’t throw up on anyone, but you know that it’d be mostly alright if you did because everybody is so nice. This is pleasant, straight-forward music with enough instrumental variation that it doesn’t get boring even on your twentieth play-through, and it’s great accompaniment for studying and barbecuing alike. Josh Ketchen gives singer-songwriters a good name.