It's a Puzzle

Album Review

One imagines that taken separately, Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood are responsible adults who hold down jobs and take good care of their families. When the twain meet in the incarnation known as Trout Fishing in America, however, grownup seriousness is the first casualty. The stomach-churning "Why I Pack My Lunch" will remind parents why their kids are less than enthusiastic about the midday school meal, while the anthem "Fill It Up" advises young listeners against half measures. Perhaps, upon reflection, some parents may wish that Trout Fishing didn't make doing the wrong thing sound like so much fun, but it's easy to get the feeling that Idlet and Grimwood prefer honesty to propaganda. When these adults arrested in adolescence do have a point to make, it's the kind of point most kids would agree with. "Wrong Right" admits that no matter how hard a person tries, he or she will still screw up from time to time, while "Relax" states that it's perfectly naturally to feel down-and-out. These cuts are balanced by more nonsense, like "Alien in My Nose," a hard-rocking song about...discreetly picking one's nose. It's a Puzzle should prove popular on family trips, making kids laugh and stodgy old parents remember what it was like to be a kid and laugh. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide