Dan Potthast is better known as “the singer from MU330” and this is a nice collection of his first two solo albums with the added inclusion of two brand new tracks. It’s a massive thirty one tracks long and is being put out by Gravity Dip this April. Having only seen MU330 once (and many years ago now), Dan isn’t someone I’m overly familiar with and can’t compare these releases to his more ska punk efforts in his full band too much – but having played over 1800 shows he is very much a veteran of the underground scene.
“Eyeballs” was originally released in 1999 and the eight year gap definitely shows on this album. Compared to some of the more established acoustic solo performers this seems a very light hearted and entertaining set of songs, but one which doesn’t push any boundaries at all. While I’d imagine it’s very hard to push the boundaries of acoustically performed songs, the tracks themselves don’t stand out too much and the thirty minutes has passed by without me really wanting to listen to any one track again, or indeed noticing something that makes me want to sing along. Title track “Eyeballs” opens brightly with a harmonica and then plods along without ever building on that early momentum. Sadly the same can be said for many of these tracks. Vocally Dan is very easy listening and this album is certainly a pleasant experience but nothing too enthralling nonetheless.
“Sweets and meats” was released in 2002 and this re-released version opens with two brand new tracks in the form of “Fan” and “Riot”. On first listen the style hasn’t dramatically changed and “Riot” is little over a minute long so it isn’t really too much to get excited about. However the original tracks are a definite improvement on the first album as the sound is fuller with the inclusion of drumming, bass and organ, and this does a lot more for Dan’s singer songwriter credentials. Tracks such as “Clockwise” are still fairly low key with the backing band, but sound just that little bit more appealing here. “Sharks” has a cool title (because sharks are cool right?) but is rather laid back, and “Pope” doesn’t really inspire me. However occasionally there are some fun tracks and “Stepping Stones to CA” is an upbeat summery effort and it just makes me wish that the rest of this release was in a similar vein.
Altogether this is a solid acoustic based release but one which brings nothing too exciting to the table. My high school maths teacher told me I was never allowed to described things as “nice” because it’s a word lacking in any real evaluation – but to hell with her…this is nice and simple but not a lot else.