New York/Losers Lounge fixture/East Village Radio Atlantic Tunnel host
Edward Rogers' fourth LP is another fine excursion into the sounds of formative years. That's no fake Brit accent, either; he's from Birmingham. Like 2008's splendid sophomore
You Haven't Been Where I've Been,
Porcelain works multiple sides of the fruitful '60s/'70s flowering of rock's art pop culture, handling early-'70s guitar rock curling "The Biba Crowd," "Diamonds Amour," and wry "Topping the World," the
James Williamson-
Stooges-esque (yes!) "Separate Walls," and the
Dylan-meets-
Badfinger "Love with the World" as fluently as Baroque-stoked folk on "Nothing Too Clever" or the piano plucky "Link to the Chain." Like loves the
Left Banke,
Kinks, and
Zombies,
Rogers realizes that the "R" in A&R (repertoire!) matters as much as groovy tunes. And with his plaintive, reliable voice and happy hooks,
Rogers never disappoints. ~ Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover