After spending a career opening for more well-known acts (this summer it was Coldplay), Pete Yorn doesn't enjoy much commercial popularity.
His case is only further hampered by the Swedish band with a similar namesake -- Peter, Bjorn and John -- who struck melodic gold with their whistlin' hit, "Young Folks" in 2006.
However, the New Jersey-born singer-songwriter is also talented in his ability to create whistle-worthy melodies.
What prevents Yorn from joining the ranks of other great American singer-songwriters, like Jeff Tweedy, Conor Oberst and Ben Gibbard, is his inability to pen life-altering lyrics.
While Yorn's verses are an improvement from the teenage angst drivel that personifies high school radio stations, they are only a minor improvement that could perhaps be safely dubbed a liquor-induced college whine.
"Back & Fourth" is Yorn's fourth studio LP and follows the melodic traditions of his other albums. The opening track, "Don't Wanna Cry," is perhaps the catchiest on the CD, but its lyrics are also the most unbearable.
After a couple of listens the song will inevitably be stuck in your head for the remainder of the day, but you'll be embarrassed for allowing it to create this home in your brain.
Other songs on the album are less likely to be scoffed at by your friends, but they still won't be known for their lyrical prowess.
Many are littered with something I call "Pete paradoxes," or traditional phrases written with an opposing twist that make them unconventional and place them on the brink of being insightful.
One such phrase, "It all worked out quite wrong," is used in the song "Social Development Dance," which is the strongest on the CD. Other notable tracks on the album include "Shotgun," a playful track that, with the addition of an acoustic guitar and bongos, would belong on a Jack Johnson album, and "Four Years," a song whose bridge elevates it into the top five on the CD.
While "Back & Fourth" contains no philosophical breakthroughs, its catchiness will provide Yorn fans with an enjoyable distraction before they once again resolve their attention to "musicforthemorningafter," Yorn's first LP and little-known masterpiece.
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