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A major influence on artists as varied as roots rocker , , and (two of whose songs he covers here), effectively mixes his tough yet delicate city-styled street corner harmonies with basic chords to produce evocative tunes that, although embedded in the echoes of his youth, bubble with a soothing, low-key effervescence. 's perennially youthful voice delightfully swoops and swirls on the autobiographical and the -styled but it's on the tracks, especially the beautiful a cappella ballad which seems like it was written with this arrangement in mind, that the concept fully clicks. The band chugs behind him with shabby charm, the backing vocalists are warm and subtle, the sound sparsely clean, and the album cruises along like a shiny '50s convertible primed on hi-test. Some of these songs, like the magnificent opener although retro in concept, sound lean and fresh with little of the stylized production of the doo wop era. sings with the joyous vitality of his youth throughout, making the appropriately named one of the best, and most fully realized, albums of his extensive yet uneven career. ~ Hal Horowitz