Patrick Park
Loneliness Knows My Name
On Sale Now
For $7.48

I have some breaking news for all of you rock fans out there. I have heard the next rock genius and his name is Patrick Park. No, it is not a place you went camping when you were ten. He’s a one-of-a-kind, diamond in the rough, musical superstar. Eventually. Do you have a CD in your collection that is so special you remember everything about it? Where you bought it, what time it was, the weather outside, the first thing you thought when you heard it, etc? That CD for me is Pete Yorn’s “musicforthemorningafter”, but now I can add another title to that illustrious group: Patrick Park’s Loneliness Knows My Name, the first major release for the Denver native.

It was an especially bitter January day in Annapolis, MD. My friend and I were headed to a private show at a local bar called Armadillo’s to see The Thrills. Most fortunately for us, Park had been touring with the Irish group and played two songs before The Thrills took their set. Two simple songs and my buddy and I were enthralled. We knew from the first harmonica blow that we had stumbled upon something special. It was just something charismatic about him that screamed, “I have more talent than you”. He wore the obligatory grungy clothes, long hair, and unshaven face. But there was nothing common about his approach to music. As a side note, after his set he sat down next to us in the small upstairs bar and smoked a cigarette. Well, he accidentally flicked his cigarette too vigorously and lost the cherry. He then proceeded to pick up the flaming red cherry with his bare hands and re-light his cigarette. Now, I hate to sound like a gushing fan, but that was cool. Later that evening as I fiercely attempted to put out my flaming body I cursed Patrick Park. I was simply not as slick as him.

I have read the comparisons and agree with most of them. He is truly “new-school folk” to use my own term. He’s a Dylan for our generation and no self-respecting rock fan should be without this record. Buy this, put it in your player and when “Thunderbolt” comes on, you’ll know you’ve made the right decision. He’s part poet, part storyteller and part musician. He’s so well rounded I’m shocked he’s evaded the radar this long. “She’s a thunderbolt/With guns & fire/Two arms full of holes/And nothing to hold/She’s a restless sort/With secrets that wait/On corners in the dark/To pinch with a pain/To sting and to smart”. I am half tempted to simply cut and paste all the lyrics to each song and let that be a review all it’s own. Let the lyrics speak on behalf of Park.

Most of the lyrics are low-key with the subject matter bordering on depressing. But not depressing in the “I want to shoot myself in the neck” way. More like depressing because it’s an insightful look into human character and thought. It makes you remember yourself and most of us spend a lot of time doing things to forget. But if you’re realistic you’ll appreciate someone who brings it like Park does. Take for instance track 2, “Honest Skrew”; “Hush, hush before you say/Something you can’t take away/You step out for a cigarette/You wait and you watch and you try to forget/How the world doesn’t need you around”. I won’t attempt to share with you my interpretation of these lyrics, but I have ideas. It’s poetry and it evokes thought. It’s unique social commentary and it’s welcome in my head. Besides that, the music is great. It’s complete already; I fear my expectations will be rather high of the next album.

The good news is that the music doesn’t necessarily mirror the lyrics in that many of the songs actually maintain an upbeat tempo most anyone could appreciate. That’s important because nowadays people will don’t listen to words anyway. I recall a most popular summer song entitled “Hot in Herre” being played all over the radio waves. What a disgrace. Anyway, track 3 is a great example of this phenomenon. “That angry fool wind/Is going to blow again/So hang on with all your might/That hard stabbing pain/Will always feel the same/There’s nothing you can do to fight”. Obviously you can’t hear the music in the words, but I felt compelled to put another excerpt in there. You needed to hear it.

It’s always at about this point in a review that I have grown weary of meticulously breaking down each song. I know I’ve only briefly spoken about three but in this day and age, forcing someone to concentrate on one line of thought for more than 45 minutes borders on human cruelty. So let me reluctantly tie this rope into a knot. If you want to know what are the good songs, I can unabashedly say every song is top flight. All 11 tracks are worthy of repeated listening. I legitimately listened to the CD a dozen times in three days and I have it on while I’m typing this as well. Patrick Park’s music is like heroin. Hmm, I can’t end this without tacking on some more lyrics. This is from track 6, Something Pretty which is probably my favorite of the many great ones. “At the most I’m a glare/I’m the hopeless son who’s hardly there/I’m the open sign that’s always busted/I’m the friend you need, but can’t be trusted”.

Some reviews are written just to criticize or praise. Some are written to sell CD’s. Yet in this case it is written out of shear appreciation for the music and in an effort to tell others about this gem. It is my opinion that it takes a fool to not appreciate this record, but I own it and am content with that. Those who are not fortunate enough to own it yet need to get it. Just buy it. It will be the best money you ever spent.

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