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Back when Mike Doughty was the front man for the quirky alternative group Soul Coughing, it seems you either loved his music or you just didn’t get it at all. The sound was unusual, the lyrics often repetitive and nonsensical. It was crazy and fun and…different.
On Doughty’s latest solo album, Golden Delicious, the sound is still different—but it’s a more mainstream kind of different. A pleasant and even acceptable kind of different. And that makes for a great compromise: it’s an album that Soul Coughing fans will love, while new listeners won’t find it quite so scary and alternative.
Golden Delicious opens with quite possibly the album’s most serious track, “Fort Hood,” an ode to young soldiers, featuring a touch of the ‘60s anthem “Let the Sun Shine In” worked into the chorus. But even the more serious, thoughtful songs on the album still manage to feel upbeat.
With his trademark jazzy and often percussion-heavy style and his gravely voice, Doughty delivers track after infectious track. The songs are laid back and relaxing, simple and catchy. Sure, sometimes the lyrics don’t make a whole lot of sense (like, well, all of “More Bacon Than the Pan Can Handle,” for example). Even when they don’t make sense, though, the words just sound right together. They just flow. And you’ll soon find yourself singing right along, as if they made perfect sense.
There’s just something inherently poetic about Doughty’s imaginative lyrics. In a way, he’s like a modern-day beat poet, sketching fascinating images and stringing together such strange yet somehow perfect words. Combined with Doughty’s relaxed yet upbeat musical style, it feels like some kind of happy hypnosis.
Whether you were a fan of Soul Coughing’s music (like me) or you just thought it was a confusing conglomeration of nonsensical lyrics (really, what the heck is a super bon bon, anyway?), you’re sure to find something to love in Doughty’s Golden Delicious. From the jubilant “I Just Want the Girl in the Blue Dress to Keep on Dancing” to the catchy single, “27 Jennifers,” it’s eccentric, but it’s still accessible. And that makes it the perfect background music for your favorite hip coffeehouse: light and simple, smart and poetic, yet artsy and a bit unusual. It’s an album that I can’t seem to take out of my CD player, no matter how hard I try (okay, I’ll be honest—I’ve stopped trying). And it just gets better and better with each listen.
