Press & Reviews

Time Out
New York
October 29-November 5, 1998

Block
Brownies; Wednesday, November 4

Even when Block plays a pretty acoustic ballad on his new, second CD, Timing Is Everything, his straightman delivery belies a bitter twist. When the love-scathed protagonist in "Cigarettes, Prozac & Scotch," warbles "I even wrote this song for you" to the girl who left him for sunny California, it's easy to tell that Block would rather be devilishly sardonic than take his pain too seriously.

This stellar release features Block's eerie, spacey croons over drum loops, sentimental strings, cocktail-lounge sounds and even a cover of Perry Como's chestnut "Catch a Falling Star." The overwhelming drive of this CD is in its catchy pop choruses, which cement themselves to memory after a single whirl of the disc. The Long Island native sing-speaks his songs to great effect, particularly when the lyrics are funny. "Did I mention I managed PM Dawn," he says over and over, mimicking a drunk blowhard he met after playing a bar one night. "Your arms are kinda flabby," Block's big-guy voice booms, parroting a music-business moron.

Onstage, Block and his band are considerably louder than either of his
CDs would indicate. Sporting n acoustic guitar with a "Christian Right is Neither" bumper sticker, the singer- songwriter relays the engaging, unaffected details of his life like the sensitive lug you'd suspect he is. Let's hope he plays the addictive, radio-friendly "I-95" and the antimall dirge "3rd Mall from the Sun."

- Karen Iris Tucker