Pete Yorn
Day I Forgot
On Sale Now
For $13.75

There is an era of despair that is quickly coming to an end. The late 90’s and early 00’s were an embodiment of what I call “modern glamour rock” and of course, the boy bands. Everywhere I looked there were guys dancing in a synchronized manner and tough dudes screaming nonsense about pain they never felt. It was a dark time for yours truly, and then came Pete.

A good two or three years had passed before I bought anything worth mentioning. That of course would be the debut release by Pete Yorn called “musicforthemorningafter”. He, along with the likes of John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Coldplay and so on, has ushered in a promising time for rock in America. For this reason the follow-up release by PY, Day I Forgot was much anticipated by me and a great deal of others. This day has come!

I was nervous to listen to it at first I must admit. I was so taken by his first release and feared being disappointed by the dreaded sophomore slump. So much for that. PY never disappoints. The record opens with a short, scratchy intro, aptly named “Intro”, which in an odd way sets the tone for the whole album. PY is of that rare class of artists who can do whatever the hell they want and pull it off. The record was blissfully different. Unlike some (Sugar Ray, Linkin Park, 311) PY has the ability to reinvent himself without sacrificing content.

After track 1, my man hits the ground running. Track 2, “Come Back Home” is the first single off the new album. Perhaps it was so because it is more similar to the previous album. That mysterious mix of poppy vocals mixed with his own unique guitar riffs. Skip ahead to track 4 “Carlos (Don’t Let It Go To Your Head)”. This is probably the most “rock” song on the record, kind of like “For Nancy” was to the first album. “Carlos works in a place that no one has gone/It’s howlin’out tonight/And he’s feeling alright”. You know what Pete? I’m feeling alright too. Then its back to earth for track 5. “Pass Me By” is a great example of those amazing poetic lyrics. Simple and yet so confusing. I never cease to wonder what he’s talking about in his songs. A broken picture of his life that we can get brief glimpses of through his music. Sure beats songs about ass-kicking. The first half of the record is capped by track 7 “Long Way Down”. “I don’t want you/So why should I compete with other guys?/I don’t love you, no”. Simply put, this was the front-runner for my favorite track so far. I don’t know why.

Moving on to the second half of Day I Forgot we see the appearance of a song that true PY fans have already heard; “Turn Of The Century”. Of all the unreleased songs I’ve heard, this had the most “dreamy” sound. I think it’s all about the opening lyrics- “Saw my reflection, covered in glass/How it reminds me of you/Broken like a vision, an unfinished season/Terror had struck me, but all I could see was your soft skin”. Take a deep breath and enjoy it because next we see a strange side of Pete. “It’s a 7-11/Do you wanna walk outside/If you want a burrito/You can have another bite of mine”. I’ll let those lyrics speak for themselves.

Okay, to be honest, to this point I have been pleased, but disappointed to have not heard a song like “Just Another Girl”. That was such an amazing tune and everyone loves those slow songs. So with only three songs left I was sweating bullets. Then there was 12. I mean 11 was alright, but sweet 12, how I dream of you so often. “All at Once” should be the next release off of the album. Pete manages to mumble another delicious song that begs to be listened to over and over. “All at once/I break my silence/All at once/There’s no more hiding/And all he wants is to show us how he feels”. From my interpretation it seems like a heartfelt story about an abusive father. I could be wrong, but that’s my take. Either way it’s great.

Well, I could continue to bore you with my in-depth synopsis of every individual track on the album, or I could tell you how I really feel. It’s great. That’s all there is to it. I had to listen to it three times for that realization to hit me. There are only a few tracks that you could transplant from “Day I Forgot” that would fit onto “musicforthemorningafter” seamlessly. As a whole the album has a completely new feel to it and yet is distinctly Pete Yorn. There are no “big words” I can use to describe how it’s different, it just is. I have no qualms dishing out all five Jackson’s to grade this album. Another wonderful treat for your ears. Please, for the sake of America, buy this album.

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