"Did you know, the world already has one million, two hundred thousand, and sixty three standard love songs waiting to be recorded, courtesy of Nashville alone?" Glyn Bailey says on his web site. "Someone counted them ... " Whether or not that's true, it's a good reason for someone to write something besides standard love songs -- or songs with any other evergreen theme, something Bailey accomplishes with finesse on his solo debut, Toys From Balsa. While there's nothing unique or unusual about the music on this album, the subject matter of the songs makes for an interesting and entertaining listen. Can you imagine songs about plastic bags, cannibalism, a communist feast, or Laurel and Hardy in heaven? There's even a bonus track about John & Yoko in bed with a pet that features the lo-fi duo Woog Riots. You get the idea.
Two of the most unique cuts on this record are "My Love Is Out In Space" and "The Plastic Bag Song (Facts)". The former is more of a rock chant:
My love is somewhere out in space
My love is somewhere out in space
My love is somewhere out in space
I can't find her here on earth
The latter is a social commentary, replete with faulty logic, that manages to equate facts about plasic bags with the state of the world:
If all the plastic bags in the world
Were joined together as one
They could smother the whole dammed earth
And the people who live thereon
And it’s facts such as these
Lead me to believe
It’s a mad, bad, mad, bad world
A mad, bad, plas-bag world
The closest thing to a standard song on this album is "Missing," a mellow, acoustic love song that speaks to someone not there. The pain in the chorus is palpable:
Give me one more day to share with you
One more day to be there with you
One more day to have you near
Just can't believe you're not here
Despite the stimulating departure from the norm on the other tracks, The vivid imagery of "Missing" gives it a huge emotional impact and makes it my pick for best track:
Picture your face in the mirror
Toothbrush left there on the side
I'm haunted by things I never told you
And the things that I said when I lied
And the words which remained unspoken
Kept locked up through fear
God now I wish that I'd told you
I just can't believe you're not here
A work like this is hard to describe much less classify, but think David Bowie meets Warren Zevon and you'll be within a couple of light years of where this guy lives in the musical and lyrical universe. If you're into eclectic, perhaps a bit eccentric, music then this album is for you.