photo by Steven Duarte 2014

photo by Steven Duarte 2014

Here’s a quirky guy that has kind of a Bowie and early Sparks vibe. Yes, that’s correct, I said Sparks. Not so much in vocal style, but most definitely cut from the same acerbic cloth. This is fun “marching band for the apocalypse” music whose message is to not take yourself or life in general too seriously. But that’s only part of the story. On a song like “Song In B,” there’s dramatically stated wistful regret (“There was a time when I had it all”), and if you’re thinking, “jeez, break out the violins,” well, that’s exactly what he does. And to great effect.

White Space Flavors and Parties on TV, out last month, is the second release from Boston-based The Grand Undoing (a.k.a. Seth Goodman). His debut album was Appeasing The Sick. The Grand Undoing’s stated dual missions in life are to “drink sparkling wine and record quirky, yet accessible, rock records about alienation and mortality.” His influences include Boston college radio, the city’s many clubs and classic country music. It all makes perfect sense.

[From the press release: “The term ‘White space flavors’ is used by professional tasters to describe manufactured flavors that don’t exist in nature. ‘Parties on TV’ is an expression of how the artificiality of our culture distances us from ourselves making the modern human experience vacuous.”]

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