Father John Misty – Pure Comedy

Father John Misty is very well known for all serious music fans, which is just to say people have heard of him. That said, his aptly designed lullabies, muddy tracks, and mellow alternative piano-themes are very uniquely him and worthwhile for their relaxing purpose; they create a heavy feel whether full of instruments.

Pure Comedy opens well enough with a rhythmic alternative movement, but overall the album-titled first song is just alright and a bit mundane and muddy. After “Pure Comedy”, Father John gets more surreal, and interesting & surreal seems to kind of be his thing. “Total Entertainment Forever” plays on more than philosophy though, as it grabs something that everyone can identify with and grows into a big city romp. Some of these songs are worth hearing over and over, and go for alternative ballads rather than soulful ones.

“Things That Would Have Been Helpful To Know Before The Revolution” and “Ballad of a Dying Man” both play on this, with the latter being a sad, Jefferson Airplane-like, bar number. “Birdie” is slower, but again, repeat worthy. There are still some soul songs, “Leaving L.A.” is such and is longer and spiritual sounding. The last seven pieces are all comparable to ‘70s pop ballads, with the notable ones being “When the God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell to Pay”, “Smootchie”, and “The Memo”.

The release fittingly ends with a song called “In Twenty Years or So”, which has an alternative tune as good as any on here. As much as surreal is his thing, in this rollicking seventies-style pop album, Pure Comedy is something everyone can get that is also kind of hippy-happy.