Coconut Records

Davy

(Young Baby)

Record Review by Alex Pudlin

I wish I hadn’t researched Coconut Records before finishing the album. Then I could’ve spent this review comparing Davy’s songs to the power-pop heavyweights of yesterday and today. But now I can’t help but think of actor side-project bands like Johnny Depp’s P or Russell Crowe’s 30 Odd Foot of Grunts. For you see, Coconut Records is the brainchild of everyone’s favorite Coppola, Jason Schwartzman. So with that disclaimer aside, let’s get try our absolutely unbiased best to focus on the music, not the man.

It helps that Schwartzman calls upon the DIY examples of Stevie Wonder and Prince and plays nearly every single instrument on the album. Even if the music were absolutely awful, this ambitious feat alone would make it much easier to forgive Schwartzman’s forays into music. Fortunately, Davy is actually pretty decent. Most of the songs are grounded with catchy melodies and a diverse palette of instruments. The meticulously layered production works best on “Any Fun,” where a pleasant piano chord progression gives way to some solid interplay between a thumping bass line, keyboard staccatos and guitar jabs. On “St. Jerome,” Schwartzman uses a sparse piano and guitar arrangement to highlight the verses’ whimsical bounce, only to layer on ethereal backing vocals and strings as the song slides effortlessly into its more somber chorus.

Elsewhere, Schwartzman addresses his own Phantom Planet past in the autobiographical “Drummer” (which goes through the years of his life but curiously fails to even allude to his acting career) and confusingly pines for the constant summer of Alabama on “The Summer.” “Wandering Around” comes awfully close to being the perfect soundtrack for a lovelorn boy dancing in the park on a sunny day, but it’s a bit too subdued and never fully takes off.

While Schwartzman’s music can never be called original and at times sound uncannily like Beulah,  Davy mostly succeeds thanks to Schwartzman’s economical approach to music making.  If there’s any overall knock against Davy, it’s the length. At 28 minutes, the album is a bit long for an EP but short for a full-length record. Yet even with such a short running time, the last third of the album drags into more uninspired territories. “Is this Sound Okay?” is an effective album ender but “I Am Young” and “Wires” both feel somewhat spat out. Had Schwartzman cut out a few of these numbers, Davy could’ve been a very solid EP, but as a full-length, the songwriting isn’t varied enough to justify even 28 minutes.