Adam Coozer doesn’t like All Is Golden, yet awards it 1.5 stars.
http://www.readjunk.com/reviews/cdreviews/pronto-all-is-golden/
Side project from Wilco’s keyboardist with members of Iron & Wine and Cat Power.
Sound good? It isn’t.
The music is overdone and overproduced with a menagerie of horns, organs, and pianos, and is particularly shlocky on the many ballads and slow-tempo songs. Multi-instrumentalism is nothing new to these bands, but Pronto has an unfortunate Billy Joel/Elton John vibe that is hard to stomach.
Even if you like this music (assuming you’re in a Bar Mitzvah cover band), the vocals will surely be an impediment. Suffering from “non-vocalist stepping into vocalist in his side band” syndrome, Mikael Jorgensen’s is terribly off-key and strained. His voice and delivery remind me a bit of Keith Moon, another guy who shouldn’t have strayed from behind his instrument.
This isn’t good at all.
Bottom Line: Pronto is a good name, because that’s how quickly I wanted to shut this off.
Notable Tracks: “Listen Lover” is a jaunty tune that would’ve been good with another vocalist.
Overall Rating: 1.5 stars
