Early in 2007, I found myself at The Rockwood Music Hall an hour earlier than I had planned (the subways worked well and the restaurant where I had dinner had extremely fast service). So I decided that the best thing to do was to see the show before the one I had come for. And during the next hour, I encountered Leslie Mendelson, James Maddock and Emily Zuzik for the first time. I’ve been following all three musicians since.
Leslie, James and Emily have all recently completed recording new albums (although the new one from Leslie is not due out until later this year). Here then are some thoughts about the new records now out.
The Wild Joys of Living is the new record from Emily, officially billed this time out as the Emily Zuzik Band. At eight songs, it’s a short album but there isn’t a drop of filler here. You’ll find a combination of rockers and ballads all of which highlight Emily’s skills in songwriting. Although the production here is fuller than the way Emily has played many of these songs in the past, it all just works. The lead off track, You Want to Go Out Tonight is given a power pop treatment which makes it a perfect song for the summer of 2011. You can’t go wrong with The Wild Joys of Living.
The hardest thing in writing about James Maddock is coming up with an apt short description of his music. 
Folk Rock might be close, but much of James’ work is close to anthemic. That aside, the new album from James, released this week, Wake Up and Dream, is a delight. There are 12 songs that range from energetically uptempo (Beautiful Now, Living A Lie) to the more introspective (Mr. Universe, Keep Your Dreams) and points in between (the title cut). The same band that played on James’ last two records as well as his live shows (Drew Mortali on bass, Oli Rockberger on keys, Aaron Comess on drums, John Shannon on lead guitar and Leslie Mendelson on backing vocals) is back again and providing a very full sound. James has played many of these songs live over the past couple of years and it’s good to have them finally recorded.
