(back to press)

NO DEPRESSION Sept-Oct. 2007

P.J. O’CONNELL
Careful
(Clang!)
Tarheel scenesters know Pat O’Connell: Prior to relocating to Massachusetts he 
helmed Durham’s much-admired roots/pop combo The Flying Pigs, additionally 
collaborating with members of H-Bombs, the Woods and Flat Duo Jets. Now based 
near Cape Cod, he’s part of the extended NRBQ, Incredible Casuals and Chandler
Travis clans. And for his third solo album Careful, he’s as subversively tuneful 
as ever, casting his musical net into multiple ponds: country-rock (“Town That 
Never Sleeps” uncannily channels Elvis Costello’s “Stranger in the House”—O’Connell 
vocally resembles Costello), NRBQ-ish goodtime twang (“All This Time,” which 
features the ‘Q backing him up) and plenty of his patented, tight-but-loose powerpop 
(the Rockpile-like “Can’t Get It Right”; 12-string jangler “Careful”). O’Connell’s 
not reinventing the wheel here; rather, he’s putting a fresh coat of paint on the 
spokes and making it roll—and rock—anew, and with gusto.

—FRED MILLS