Several years after his group Legends of Rodeo released their first album,
John Ralston returned with his own debut full-length,
Needle Bed. And it's an album that has several highs and very few lows. After the light, flighty "No Catcher in the Rye," which would fall somewhere between
Elliott Smith and
the Beatles' "Day in the Life," the record takes off with a punchy and well-crafted toe-tapper entitled "It's Not Your Fault," which slowly adds a guitar and a fuller arrangement. The only drawback might be that it's not fleshed out, ending a tad abruptly. The rudimentary but refined pop melodies are in full force with the winding but precious "Hang a Sign," which brings a band like
Spoon to mind.
Ralston sounds like he didn't waste much time recording these songs, wanting to capture the moment in its purest form. This is especially true with the roots pop ballad called "When We Are Cats" and the nearly perfect
XTC-ish highbrow pop of "I Believe in Ghosts," even when the singer reaches for the higher notes. Again, it could go on, but
Ralston quits while he is quite far ahead. After a lovely, pace-changing "No One Said It Was Easy," the album suffers a slight hiccup with "Gone Gone Gone," which is a little too rich, coming off like something
the Goo Goo Dolls might take a stab at. He atones for this with "Keep Me," a rousing, fist-pumping roots rock track that hits the ground running. ~ Jason MacNeil