Chris Isaak wants for nothing. He's got a nice place in San Francisco, a '64 Chevy Nova, a few of those ludicrous brocade suits to clown around in onstage, a rocking band and enough money to eat at his favorite family restaurant whenever he wants. He's also got a splendid face, better hair than Jack Lord and a voice as pretty as the sun going down. There's just one thing missing: love.
The mourning of its loss and the longing for its renewal have lent a bluesy romanticism to Isaak's three glistening rockabilly albums. The emotional swell reached its crescendo with his haunting 1991 hit, "Wicked Game," which concludes, "Nobody loves no one." But on the new San Francisco Days –
Read More
whose mood still ranges from brooding to forlorn – a little light breaks through.
The Mustang-driving loner of "Except the New Girl" actually gets the girl, and the song's pace picks up like a northern wind. The first single, "Can't Do a Thing (to Stop Me)," is a sexy lounge number about willful obsession on which Isaak's voice floats in falsetto. While wallowing in regret ("I still want you, I still need you/Don't hang up and say goodbye"), "San Francisco Days" features Isaak's loveliest singing – from a low whisper to a full-throated cry, like Roy Orbison strolling down Market Street. And on "Beautiful Homes," when he quavers, "In beautiful houses with beautiful gardens where bee-yooo-tiful dreams have died," his wit shines brighter than the wax in Elvis Presley's hair. From the hokey tune and cheese-ball Hammond B3 organ of "Two Hearts" to the jazzy shuffle of "5:15" (about a train carrying a lover away) and a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man," San Francisco Days is a stunning record. These songs are swollen with real characters and real stories.
Chris Isaak may be a little old-fashioned, his considerable style out of step with the times. But he grew up in a tight, blue-collar family in Stockton, California, fractured his nose a few times when he was a boxer. It's that sort of black-and-white heroic American imagery he romanticizes with a voice that breaks like a heart. (RS 656)
CHRISTIAN WRIGHT
With a diversity of backings and a confident, naturalistic sound--even on his trademark wrist-slashers and torch songs--this ranks among Isaak's best. Strong tunes throughout (including a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man"), with the downbeat but dreamy lounge cut "Can't Do A Thing (To Stop Me)" bringing some dark sexual undercurrents to FM radio.
