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I\u2019m on record \u2013 at least I think I am \u2013 that for me, the greatest present-day lyricist is none other than Peter Holsapple. While he\u2019s lent his considerable talents to the work of others \u2013 R.E.M. and Hootie et. al. most prominent among them \u2013 Holsapple is best known for his work with The dB\u2019s and the Continental Drifters. Yes, there\u2019s much else, all of it worthy, but those are the most high-profile projects with which he\u2019s been involved.<\/p>\n
Holsapple\u2019s gifts with words have graced projects that would have already been great — five-star great, I\u2019m tellin\u2019 ya \u2013 even without them. His pair of albums with Chris Stamey \u2013 Mavericks<\/i> and Here and Now<\/i>, separated by many years \u2013 are stuffed with his rich and never self-conscious wordplay. So news of a new album from the man is cause for celebration in these quarters.<\/p>\n
Then I listen to the album, and find it exceeds my already impossibly high expectations. The title \u2013 much less the cover art \u2013 for The Face of 68<\/i> doesn\u2019t telegraph what this album is going to sound like. But then, that good-natured bit of misdirection is a hallmark of Holsapple\u2019s work. When I heard the title of his single of a few years back was \u201cDon\u2019t Mention the War,\u201d I immediately conjured visions of a Fawlty Towers<\/i> sketch. It was no such thing; instead, it was a serious and heartfelt song.<\/p>\n
And I appreciate that approach. Make us work a little, because you certainly did.<\/p>\n
Working with a tight and like-minded set of players \u2013 Rob Ladd, Ben Folds Five\u2019s Robert Sledge, Mark Simonsen, producer\/musician Don Dixon and Marti Jones (Dixon) \u2013 Holsapple serves up a straightforward set of tunes the likes of which a man with less life experience simply could not countenance, much less create. The 11 songs on The Face of 68<\/i> are heartfelt and couched in arrangements that feel here-and-now, intimate and unvarnished but never sloppy or less than skillfully executed.<\/p>\n
Holsapple\u2019s lyrics often speak directly to a specific listener, but one need not be that person — nor even identify with them \u2013 to find the words resonant. He\u2019s an everyman of the most articulate sort, and he expresses thoughts and sentiments that will make the listener think, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ve thought that, but not in such an articulate manner.\u201d Dixon\u2019s production aesthetic is so note-perfect as to render itself invisible; these songs sound like Peter Holsapple and his pals playing these songs for you, in your living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cLarger Than Life\u201d is the album\u2019s spotlight track, and it\u2019s rock-solid. It \u2013 and most everything else here \u2013 would have fit nicely and seamlessly on The dB\u2019s Falling Off the Sky<\/i>, their late-period reunion\/rally, and for my money the best thing they ever did (and I say that as someone who loves it all). But I want to share my thoughts on another track.<\/p>\n
Every now and then \u2013 okay, hardly ever, but sometimes<\/i> \u2013 you stumble across a song that really, really, really resonates with you lyrically. The words seem to have been pulled from your own subconscious. Not that you could have written them \u2013 no, you could not have \u2013 but they’re a window into your psyche. Or at least, they’re from someone who, it would seem, thinks very much as you do. This happened to me when I listened to \u2013 and laughed out loud at \u2013 \u201cThat Kind of Guy.\u201d Is it the best song on the album? I don’t know; there’s a lot of competition for that honor. But WOW. Peter Holsapple may have made the best album of 2025. Certainly one of ’em. Because \u2013 to coin a phrase \u2013 he’s that kind of guy.<\/p>\n
With a Who-like intro, the music is subtly reminiscent of both \u201cAmplifier\u201d and \u201cThat Time is Gone,\u201d two of my three favorite Holsapple songs (the other is \u201cAngels,\u201d if you\u2019re wondering.) But \u201cThat Kind of Guy\u201d is its own original song, stuffed to the gills with music-nerd inside references; if you\u2019re such a person, you\u2019ll smile broadly at the lyrics. And as Dave Edmunds would counsel, you\u2019ll repeat when necessary.<\/p>\n
As much as we may love certain artists \u2013 Paul McCartney; the recently departed Brian Wilson; hell, Jeff Lynne \u2013 if we\u2019re honest, their best work was created decades ago. Peter Holsapple is a few years older than I am, and he has a massive body of work to his credit. But in 2025 the man is operating at the peak of his creative powers. Even if you\u2019re not a \u201clyrics person\u201d \u2013 and in general, I am not; it takes a Neil Finn or a Phil Lynott or a Roger Waters or a Pete Townshend or a Kirsty MacColl to break through to me on that level \u2013 the songs on The Face of 68<\/i> are the kind that demand that you stop and listen. The music is great, and the words hit it outta the park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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