It's taken me a while to wrap my head around the fact the Florida-based singer/songwriter Damion Suomi is not actually from Finland. As a hockey fan I can't shake the image of that world splashed across the front of Teemu Selanne's jersey.
Despite his lack of Finnish, Suomi has just released a remarkable debut album creatively titled Self Titled.
Suomi creates full band folk music and rolls it up nice and tidily in a polished-up roots rock package. The killer pop hooks of these tracks are as infectious as Ebola. One whiff of a song like the loose, fun-loving "San Francisco" and you are done for.
Musically, Self Titled is very American. Roots rock, folk, and country are all cobbled into the blend. The results can at times remind the listener alternately of Bright Eyes, Cracker, Counting Crows, and Ryan Adams.
Booze is a prevailing theme of Self Titled. "What a Wonderful Game" tells the tale of a typical bar pick-up scene, while "Sunday Morning" involves the consumption of wine, beer, champagne, whisky, and gin. The brown liquor also rears its head in "Ghost" and "Save Your Ass".
All this imbibing culminates with the pub rock singalong "Oh, Won't You Please".
In the most touching twist on the record, Suomi is joined by The Bridges' Brittany Painter for a duet on the soulful country tune "One More Time".
Self Titled is an impressive debut. Suomi has a knack of creating catchy songs that are easy to relate to. That should take him far.
Best tracks: "What a Wonderful Game", "Oh, Won't You Please"
Track listing for Self Titled:
- Archer Women
- Darwin, Jesus, The Devil & Me
- What a Wonderful Game
- San Francisco
- Sunday Morning
- Ghost
- One More Time
- Oh, Won't You Please
- Save Your Ass
- Waltz
8.5/10
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