by
Benjy Ferree
- Record Label: Domino
- Release Date: Feb 17, 2009
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
We do get a consistent, theatrical dose of glamorous rockabilly out of Bobby Dee.
-
Ferree obviously loves his source material, and the way he weaves in the references throughout is ingenious. But something about the pleasure he takes in his obsession cloisters it away - he can't quite make his subject matter in a way that transcends Bobby Driscoll's life and death.
-
The end result is an album that’s at once confident, playful and timeless, a treat for rock and roll fans of all stripes.
-
The only major drawback with Come Back to the Five and Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee is that Ferree throws so much of his energy into writing about Driscoll that the songs don’t work nearly as well outside of the collection.
-
Here, then, is a songwriter capable of drawing remarkable depth from swinging pop-rock, crafting a distinctive voice among an oversaturated pop-music landscape and leaving a front-to-back winner of an LP as evidence.
-
Under The RadarA skuzzy glam gem replete with blues-driven riffs, deranged doo-wop vamps, and an overiding preen redolent of Queen. [Winter 2009, p.78]
-
Despite its gloomy subject matter, it's really quite a fun listen.
-
Q MagazineBut it's the art-punk sense of fearless invention that makes...Bobby Dee a winning album in praise of life's losers. [Feb 2010, p. 105]