EW.com
EW's GRADE
B+Details Release Date: Jan 22, 2008; Lead Performance: Matt Costa; Genre: Folk
California balladeer (and Jack Johnson protégé) Matt Costa loads Unfamiliar Faces, his second full-length with folk, indie, and psych-rock tunes — some hits (''Mr. Pitiful''), some misses (''Lilacs''). With a plucky guitar, harmonica, piano, and sun-burnished vocals, Costa knows how to work gospel's euphoric uplift into secular music, though he follows the blueprints of his idol (a ''Hurdy Gurdy Man''-era Donovan) a tad too closely. Thankfully, his old-timey charms don't overwhelm; it's more a reminder that in the Age of iPod, crackly vinyl is still worth cherishing. B+
DOWNLOAD THIS: Stream ''Mr. Pitiful'' at the Brushfire Records website
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