The co-leader of The Raconteurs proves that he's the most retro influence in that group with this solo release. My Old, Familiar Friend is littered with pop elements straight from your 1970s A.M. radio. Whereas the Racs seems to take these pieces and fuse them with Jack's modern indie-rock brilliance, Brendan here stays all pop all the time.
It actually seems a little too specifically derivative at times. While all originals, "Eyes On The Horizon" for example, sounds like it was lifted off a Todd Rundgren album. "Gonowhere" sounds so much like Wings, that I think that he might be stealing a riff from Band On The Run.
The opening track, "A Whole Lot Better" employs an Attractions-like organ, but moves along on its own, and I can totally get behind the manic-mind-love tune lyrics. The similarly new wavey "Poised And Ready" should get your hipster party jumping.
The only modern sounding track is "Don't Wanna Talk". Unfortunately, it sounds like Brendan's version of an uptempo Shania Twain song. The only rocker of the bunch is the closer, "Borrow". So- overall, the album plays up the pop too much and has little to offer the average rock fan. If this is your bag, by all means, Have A Nice Day. (2.5 of 5 stars)
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