Song of the Day - June 12, 2006

Tom Verlaine is back with two new albums: an instrumental album, Around and a vocal album, Songs and Other Things. Tom has been famous for his guitar work since his days in Television, but today I am going to focus on his vocal album. He is joined by Television bassist Fred Smith and Patti Smith's drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, who Verlaine has also played with in Smith's band. The album is framed by instrumentals, but it is the vocal tracks that standout. I especially enjoyed "Heavenly Charm," "Orbit," and "Nice Actress." The aforementioned tracks are some of the darkest on the album. I suppose I favor the dark side. "The Day on You," however, wins song of the day titles for the superlative union of vocals and guitar work. The psychedelic tendencies of Verlaine's guitar work blend masterfully with his vocals to create one of the highlights of this album. Click here to listen.