Peace

Album Review

On Peace, My Fine Friend Phil picks up where it left off with its debut, Damn Glad to Meet Ya. Like Ryan Adams, Phil Mann seems to be a prolific songwriter, and though Mann is not quite as gritty and immediate, his songs seem to come from the same place as Adams' more rocking tunes: Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, '70s power pop, and roots rock. Sure, nothing on Peace stands out like Adams' "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)," "Answering Bell," or "Nuclear," or Sheryl Crow's "Soak up the Sun," but My Fine Friend Phil comes through with some great, bittersweet Americana on the piano-driven title track and a groovy little Big Star-esque number with "Someday." The jaunty "Suddenly" is a sweet throwback to simpler times and the strangest track on the record, but it shows My Fine Friend Phil's ability to take an influence like American Beauty-era Grateful Dead and work it into something original, simple, and uplifting.