New Jersey-based folkie H.E. Pabst (http://www.hepabst.com) is a true child of the late '60s and early '70s, capturing the singer/songwriter acoustic pop of the period (you can hear the influence of everybody from James Taylor to John Denver) in songs that are both personal and universal. Pabst is no rock & roll star, and his music doesn't make such ambitions. This is really mellow stuff, both lyrically and in terms of volume.
The title "Daddy's Songs" is apt since this is a record you can play for your smallest kids. However, that doesn't mean the lyrics are geared towards children. These are adult love songs coming from the perspective of a man who has already raised a family.
In the opening cut, "Love's Gone," Pabst sings passionately about a failed relationship. Such a downbeat track is not what you'd expect to hear at the beginning of a folk record, but it gives the album more of an edge. The emotion in Pabst's voice is clearly expressed; you can feel the wounds in his throat.
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Pabst likes to shift gears, leaping from folk to country to '60s pop; it makes the CD more eclectic than the usual singer/songwriter fare. On "Northern Star," the album's finest song, Pabst echoes the dreamy romanticism of the Moody Blues and the Beach Boys at their most ethereal. However, it is "Let Us" that is the catchiest tune here, planting itself in the brain with its stainless hooks.
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