Paul Irvine And His Soulless Young Devils

"This collection of songs was written and recorded between the living room and workshop during off-hours", states the CD text to Paul Irvine's debut album, Faux Pop - Vol. 1. The album was recorded entirely at home with Paul performing all vocals and instruments (except bass guitar on most songs, cello on "When The Conversation Ends" featuring Mike Olsen (Hidden Cameras, Arcade Fire), and horn section on "Wrong Side Of Love", "Save The Laugh Track" and "Hey There John" featuring members of the Shuffle Demons). He wrote, arranged, engineered, produced and mixed all songs. "Between 2008 and 2012, I set about recording the songs that form Faux Pop - Vol. 1, but the writing actually began in 2004," he notes. The album contains 14 storied songs that cover a wide range of topics. The musical arrangements and accompaniments, along with catchy and sing-able lyrics and vocals are evocative of early solo Paul McCartney, The Beatles, The Band and Randy Newman. The album makes good use of the folk, pop and rock genres, with jazz and blues overtones, all contained within the song format.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Paul employed his 120-year old upright piano, along with his "odds and ends" drum kit, to lay down a solid rhythm foundation for each song on Faux Pop - Vol. 1. "I studied percussion from an early age. In fact, I was a grade-school drum roadie; my dad was a weekend jazz drummer, so I would help with the load-in. I made a mental note at that time not to pursue drumming as a career path - far too much work." Instead, flute and saxophone became his forte. He went on to record and tour with many notable artists, including Corey Hart and Ronnie Hawkins, among others. On Faux Pop - Vol. 1, Paul demonstrates his untapped skill as a vocalist: "I'm a little more comfortable singing now than I was a few years ago. I think of my voice as an instrument that happens to use words as part of its sound."

There are some real gems on this wholly original debut album and while the listener will form their own opinion, one thing is for certain: Faux Pop - Vol. 1 is an exceedingly enjoyable listening experience. It is Triple Eh "A" Canadiana: Accessible, Adventurous, Au Courant! Presented under a deceptively misdescriptive title, the songs that are Paul Irvine's Faux Pop - Vol. 1,are at once memorable and more than worthy of a wide listening audience.