If the world is looking for a 21st century Emitt Rhodes with an extra dose of cynicism, perhaps they should have a chat with Paul Elrichman. A veteran of Toronto's indie scene who has worked with the bands Gay, Goosebump, and Ducks Unlimited, Elrichman is a gifted instrumentalist who can overdub himself into an impressive studio band at will, and also a songwriter whose melodies are tuneful ear candy despite their sophistication. Elrichman also has a subtle but razor-sharp lyrical sense that makes satirical mincemeat of numerous aspects of contemporary life; he's cited 10cc as an influence, and his solo material weds a clever melodic palette with tongue-in-cheek snark that could pass for a low-tech homemade variation on Sheet Music or The Original Soundtrack, for those who remember the '70s. His second album as Elrichman, 2020's Heaven's Mayor, sometimes sounds like he's trying to pull off an ambitious studio project that's a bit beyond his means, but the parts that succeed are truly impressive and engaging, cool and witty tunes reinforced with strings and banks of keyboards that sound artful on the surface but are revealed to be cutting and full of satiric venom on closer inspection. "I Mostly Consume" is so catchy that you might miss the anger in the lyric if you're not paying attention, the Beatles-influenced psychedelic playfulness of "Burn It All Down" makes a less than subtle call for revolution, and "Cop on a Horse" evokes a surreal scenario from an uncomfortable moment for both human and beast. The indie-influenced chamber pop of Heaven's Mayor is some of the best musical subversion to come out of the Canadian indie scene for a while, and hopefully Elrichman can find a better-funded sponsor in the future who will allow him to record the full-orchestral attack on our culture he's capable of delivering.
© Mark Deming /TiVo