CD Review: A Better Life

This may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but I'm not a Nobel Prize winning physicist. I've never even been a nominee. Shocking, right? It knocks me on my ass every time I think about it.

Know what else? I've never been a lion tamer. I've never commanded a submarine or a space ship or a hot air balloon. Or one of those cool futuristic machine-gun-mounted motorcycles with the gyroscope-driven balance barometer that prevents the bike from falling while a rider is on it.

Ok. That last one doesn't exist. I don't think. But shit, wouldn't it be sweet if it did? I digress.

Aside from things I"ve never done, there are lots of things I'm not. Like a race car driver. Or an escaped convict. Or a career contortionist who one day woke up with a rare skin condition that caused his skin to tighten and tear anytime he bent a joint. Or a music reviewer.

But still, I know what music I like. I know what I deem good enough to let play and what I skip as fast as it comes on. Scott Krokoff's debut solo album, A Better Life, is the former.

A quick disclaimer here - I know Scott. I've known him since I was 12 and he was my counselor at summer camp. Yes, I went to summer camp. Yes, it was awesome. Yes, I'd be there right now if I had my summers free. But no, that doesn't mean I'm biased. Hell, my own brother has been in some bands that I've absolutely loathed. Knowing Scott doesn't mean I have to like his music. It just means I got exposed to an artist I would otherwise have missed.

I'm not really sure what his exact genre is. Pop? Acoustic rock? Singer-songwriter? One thing's for sure — it's not Trance. Which, I feel, is a good thing. In a world that's too often dominated by heavy bass and electric riffs, Scott's smooth strumming on songs like I Know Your Story and Holy Fire cut through the oonce.

My favorite track on the CD is Autumn Sky. Maybe it's because it reminds me of the Summer of 93. You know, that magical summer before my sarcasm picked up an extra mean bite to counteract the pimples that would start buying up my facial real estate. Or maybe the soft melody puts a smile on my face and lyrics like "slowly i walk down/through the city streets where i live now/few people know the way to go/so i slither by" remind me of the happy punching impulse I get whenever a Times Square crowd gets in my way.

Either way, I dig it. And I dig the album as a whole. It's not earth shattering. It's not life changing. But it's good music that works in the background or the foreground. Melodies, beats and lyrics work together to treat the ears to a soothing snack. And in a world filled with musical diarrhea, these are not things we should overlook.