Pop Matters Review

This was an amazing breakthrough even if they did think I sounded like Kermit. Well in my books that's a compliment!! Have a read and see what you think....

Richard Reagh
Is This the Blues I’m Singing (This Is Pop)
by Jason MacNeil

Richard Reagh is a Canadian but perhaps like other Canucks, such as Danko Jones, Reagh has found a new audience in Sweden. The musician’s new album doesn’t have him singing the blues, but instead he relies on a nice Pet Shop Boys-ish backbeat during the poppy “The P-Song” which brings to mind Baby Dayliner. Another little gem is “Boo Backe” which is a bit lighter but just as pleasing. The same can be said for the festive, danceable “Outlaw 3.0”. However, not everything Reagh touches is gold, as is the case with the moodier “Me Too (Studio Version)” which brings a latter day Depeche Mode to one’s noggin. Reach’s pipes can also make one believe they’re listening to Kermit (the muppet), especially on the rather barren “Hangin’ on a Limb”. It’s a small price to pay though when El Perro Del Mar accompanies him on the song. Perhaps the highlight on the record is the punchy, jazz-tinged “No One Really Wants To” which falls alongside an upbeat Greg Dulli and The Twilight Singers. The homestretch tracks include the toe-tapping fun of “Alive” while the closing “Bread & Butter” has traces of Neil Young throughout.