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Harp Magazine (July/August 2007)

P.J. O’Connell
Careful Clang!

P.J. O’Connell’s circle of friends includes the NRBQ brain trust, 
the Incredible Casuals and members of O’Connell’s former band, 
the Flying Pigs, and that’s a potent Impossible Missions Force 
for the gifted singer/songwriter when it comes time to storm the 
studio. 

But the real stars on O’Connell’s third solo album, Careful, are 
his crafty roots-pop songs which swagger and scrape like the cream 
of the catalogs of Elvis Costello and Graham Parker, plus an irresistible 
pop/soul twist of Big Star for garnish. O’Connell’s boozy vocal delivery 
sports the same simultaneous power and vulnerability as Paul Westerberg’s, 
making it the perfect complement whether he’s laying back with a little
Beatlesque twang pop or pummeling a raucous groove like classic ’Q. 

Without a trend or hit in sight, O’Connell’s Careful has the natural charm 
to worm its way into favorite-album territory.

By Brian Baker