Press & Reviews

Alternative Press
May 1997
BLOCK
Lead Me Not Into Penn Station

A cutesy-titled CD from the band/man known as Block, Lead Me Not Into Penn Station is also an interactive CD complete with video clips, lyrics, photos and a map of New York City. All of which would lead one to believe that there‚s a lot going on with (or a lot of advance money going to) this Jamie Block ˆa sincere, street-credible vocalist/guitarist whose folksy strumming and regular-guy appeal seep from every digitized granule on this debut CD. No doubt about it: this man loves his town. And the music? Let‚s call it city-folk ˆurban, urbane, sophisticated, sullen and reeking of a smoke-filled packed house at Manhattan‚s Café Sin-E. For those weaned on equal parts Joni Mitchell and Lou Reed, Penn Station is the perfect transition to respectable adulthood: clad in ripped jeans and black leather jackets, but packed with enough sensitivity to ward off that nasty tinnitus. Like contemporaries Jeff Buckley and Ani DiFranco, Jamie Block practices the alchemy of melodious discord ˆpretty enough to draw you in, rough enough to keep you listening.

by Laurel Bowman