Joel Cusumano Waxworld LP
A longtime contributor to the Bay Area music scene, CUSUMANO enjoys a resurgence of sorts with this latest full-length, his debut solo venture. This is towering power pop that is still utterly human. While there is architecture of song here, built up high with airy backing vocals and keyboard atmosphere thick like incense in the verse/chorus cathedral, CUSUMANO’s voice is disarmingly earnest. It’s a singular voice, in a sort of warbling baritone that is commanding and fragile at once. The melodies are perfect, and a track like “No Hello” is like one of those puzzle cubes that could only have been put together the way it was. His understanding of what makes a good song sounds second nature. The guitars soar, the delay washes over you, there’s echoes of something like FELT fronted by David Berman, which may have well been written just for me. Beautiful and sticks in deep.