Sooner I Wish, Bobby Burg’s recent solo EP as Love is Everything, is an earnest enough affair. But with four songs at nine minutes, the album cannot help from feeling forced. Reportedly recorded when Burg was going through a painful divorce (his wife coincidentally is the ex-drummer for LOE), the music here is not lacking in emotion. However, Sooner I Wish feels ultimately trite due to its abridged production. As it stands, the latter half of the album is much stronger than the first. Both “Three Way Answers” and “Sooner I Wish” seem to happen instead of taking flight- they start, they groove, they end, and we forget. The album’s following section features “Here Come the Warm Regrets” and “Want”, two tracks that stretch out their legs and resonate- especially “Regrets”, a raw, guitar-driven instrumental. But even here, Burg does not allow the listener an opportunity to feel the music. As “Want” grooves to a close, Sooner I Wish becomes an empty image in the listener’s ears reminiscent of an abandoned stage where only a microphone stand is left behind. Yet rather than capturing loneliness, the album merely feels hollow. “That’s it,” Burg seems to painfully declare regarding his disposition towards both the album’s conclusion and his personal struggles. Others will ask instead, “That’s it?”
Polyvinyl will release Sooner I Wish on August 2nd in limited black-and-white vinyl form as well as an instant MP3.
- Fr. Jones
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