By Gary Wien
The last album by The Commons (Come On Get Done) was a bit on the mellow side and filled with brilliant but depressing lyrics. This time around the band has evened things out with a record that has a mixture of mellow tunes, rockers, and off-beat numbers that dare you to categorize them. The end result is an interesting blend that features a bunch of songs which will grab you from the first time you hear them.
Upstage Radio has been playing a bunch of cuts from the first spin including "The Van Rolls On," "Looking Back," "Back On The Bus,"and "Lipstick." Other stations have reportedly been playing the tune "Simple Things" in rotation.
There's a lot of great tracks on this disc, and since the songs sort of defy any particular formats I could see it being played on a lot of different types of stations.
Regardless of what type of music your station plays, you're bound to agree that Keith Monacchio of the Commons is one of the best lyricists in the state. It's about time more people knew about him...
Gary Wien has been covering the arts since 2001 and has had work published with Jersey Arts, Elmore Magazine, Princeton Magazine, Backstreets and other publications. He is a three-time winner of the Asbury Music Award for Top Music Journalist and the author of Beyond the Palace (the first book on the history of rock and roll in Asbury Park) and Are You Listening? The Top 100 Albums of 2001-2010 by New Jersey Artists. In addition, he runs New Jersey Stage and the online radio station The Penguin Rocks. He can be contacted at gary@newjerseystage.com.
