Album Reviews

- by Tom Dumarey

Under the Oswald Park moniker, Jordy Bell has released his first solo album which he has been quietly chipping away at for quite some time. Best known as the drummer for both The Creeps and the much-missed Crusades, ‘A Presciption Year’ shows a different side of Bell and one that we are very happy to get acquainted with. Described as a collection of ‘sad songs for weird times,’ this might just be the album we all need right now.

‘A Prescription Year’ reads like a love letter to the 90’s alt-rock/power pop with Bell immediately tugging at your heartstrings on opener ‘Sorry,’ which builds up to gratifying climax before the keyboard-enhanced ‘Young, Drunk and Stupid’ takes you straight into power-pop territory. ‘Fall’ is a more introverted song with a late 90’s/early 00’s emo feel that takes things down a notch. Said notch is then taken up again with the poppy blast that is ‘Come Back Around,’ a solid song built around an even more solid guitar lead and a slick chorus. Next up, we get treated to melancholy-laden album highlight ‘Home’ and the more angry ‘Midnight Hours,’ which finds Bell frustrated with himself before leaving things on a hopeful note and coming to terms with things on the indie-rocking ‘December Snow’.

On ‘A Prescription Year’, Bell covers a lot of ground for an album that clocks in at just 23 minutes but still manages to make it feel complete. Like life itself, it may not be perfect but the honest lyrics, solid songwriting and strong melodies have kept me coming back again and again.

Track listing:

1. Sorry    
2. Young, Drunk, and Stupid    
3. Fall    
4. Come Back Around    
5. Home    
6. Midnight Hours    
7. December Snow