Jim Boggia: Safe in Sound

Here are four quick reasons why Jim Boggia deserves to be on your musical radar screen: 1) He”s got a great voice, raspy and expressive and well-suited for a number of styles, similar to Mike Viola”s that way, 2) He”s got a firm grasp of pop vernacular; Boggia obviously has spent a lifetime listening to lots of music and absorbing plenty of it — there are subtle reference points in the music, as well as in the liner notes, 3) He”s smart — I know, not usually a pop requisite, but always a nice bonus — Boggia often goes outside himself to explore larger issues in his lyrics and displays an admirable vocabulary while doing so, and 4) He”s good — these are songs that grow on you the more you listen, true singer/songwriter quality pop product. Sure it”s not perfect, but Boggia displays a lot of growth and maturity in this latest collection, entitled Safe In Sound.

Through Michael Penn and Aimee Mann, Boggia made acquaintance with Julian Coryell and Joe Zook, who produced this new album. While Boggia adeptly handles guitar and a number of other instruments here, he also surrounds himself with several impressive musicians, including Julian Coryell on a variety of instruments, Butch (from Eels) on drums, Mike Frank on various and sundry keyboards, and Justin Meldal-Johnson (Beck) on bass.

The CD kicks off with “Shine”, a song co-written with Aimee Mann that serves as balladic ode and lament to those of us stuck in the compromised prison that is the workweek: “Drive / Watch the streets become alive / filled with all the souls who, just like you, are heading to their job / The part of every day that”s robbed / Filled with all the things we have to do”. The song offers optimism, proclaiming that “like the day, you”re going to shine”.

Boggia is an optimist, something very much in evidence in his more upbeat “Live the Proof” (co-written with producer Julian Coryell). Here Boggia preaches a sermon of self-actualization, wherein we create our circumstance, beginning the world anew with thoughts and dreams set free into a world where problems are rectified through choices applied. It”s a refreshing message of hope, conveyed in concise and clever words: “Let”s begin with a fact / Science tells us there”s a pact made between each action / and something that reacts / Things that seem out of range all obey a law of change / Put thoughts into motion / watch things rearrange”.

Personally, I like Boggia best as quiet balladeer, using that compelling voice to draw you into some more intimate song”s confession. One such example would be “Final Word”, an astute and lovely musical summation of a multi-year relationship gone bad. Jim McGorman adds some nice keyboard touches here, as does Mike Frank on the Hammond organ. Another such example of confessional ballad would be “Show My Face Around”, the song from which the album”s title is derived. The confession here is that Boggia is something of a social recluse, having grown up in an isolated environment. At birth, he was declared legally blind in his left eye and over the years his right eye”s strength has diminished. Perhaps this explains his heightened sense of hearing – and his finding refuge in the world of music from an early age. The song explains his public discomfiture — and his preference to “just crawl back in my world of sound”, finding safe haven there. There”s a whole middle bridge of family recordings spliced into the song that fades into a reprise — and while this is fascinating, perhaps it could have been edited just a bit (the total song clocks in at over five minutes).

Boggia displays this same fondness for fadeouts and reprises on “Where”s The Party?” Again, his raspy vocals are the centerpiece of a wonderful musical depiction of a star whose party life is somewhat out of control: “A lot of us would rather play at rock star than to work to be one / A lot of talent wasted getting wasted, then just wasting time”. Guests on this track are Aimee Mann on background vocals, Roger Cox on drums and Scott Bricklin on bass and slide guitar.

Jim B. once again is the sweet optimist on the sweet folk-ballad “Once”, crooning in a soft effective way the merits of a “love of perfect reciprocity”, yet never sounding maudlin or overly treacly (and check out the “Galveston”-type Glen Campbell lead).

However, for those stuck in places of dark desperation, Boggia gives you equal time with “Slowly”, a song that explores feelings of hurt and loneliness for over six minutes.

Boggia isn”t afraid to speak his mind politically, either. In what he terms a ditty for the Red States, he tells the musical tale of 1960s radical Bernadine Dohrn and the Weathermen in the bouncing rock of “Underground”. This offshoot of the SDS bombed empty government buildings in protest of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, as well as targeted assassinations of counter-culture leaders. Not only does Boggia narrate the history of those revolutionary times, he also sets out a call to modern youth of the new millennium: “No more freaks / The revolution died / Now the streets / They await another try / Who will be the next generation bound for the underground?” It”s a great track that features guests Pete Thomas on drums and Wayne Kramer (MC5) on lead guitar. For me, it also was a testament to the synchronicity of things — I had just been reading a book that mentioned Bernadine Dorhn.

There”s no mistaking the Elvis Costello influence in “Made Me So Happy”. After all, it was Costello who urged us all to “get happy” way back when and Boggia does a nice job of capturing the artistic crisis of possibly feeling too good to wax philosophic about one”s problems, anger, and rage. Julian Coryell adds some lovely and jangly guitar here, while Boggia”s good friend Jill Sobule (he often accompanies her when she plays live) contributes perfect backing vocals. This would be my choice for single.

Speaking of philosophic, in “Talk About the Weather” Boggia points up the fact that our lives are too often filled with regret and wasted time, daily interactions that ride on the surface of superficiality. This song was inspired by a screenplay by Scott Lazar about a group of twenty-somethings coming to this epiphany.

“Let Me Believe” (Evan”s Lament) is a charming tale of one man”s strategy of pretending he is someone else, that the girl is his and that the moment of their dance together will continue evermore (“when in Rome you need romance”). It was co-written with Pete Donnelly of the Figgs and Emitt Rhodes, who contributes background vocals.

“Supergirl” is another soft ballad that features Boggia”s emotive vocals to great effect. Here he is offering his thanks in a song to a woman who has saved, lifted and inspired him, and is off now to save the world.

The album closes with a seven minute “hidden” track that features a thunderstorm in Manayunk (as if I haven”t heard enough thunderstorms this summer) and a little jazz ditty entitled “Shane” (at 6:07 in) in which Boggia does his best Satchmo.

With nearly an hour”s worth of music, Safe in Sound gives you a lot of new Boggia material, which should come as a balm to fans who have been waiting years for this sophomore release. It”s a lot of music to take in, though, and for full appreciation, requires many listens to let the more subtle aspects reveal themselves.

Jim Boggia is a precise and clever wordsmith, and one who can assemble well-crafted layers of pop rock that ranges from quieting soft ballads to bouncy upbeat full-band numbers. He has a gift for melody and songwriting and, like Mike Viola, is graced with a voice that expresses every nuance and emotion. His engaging talents are well-showcased in this latest collection, as enumerated above. Safe in Sound delivers on the promise of Boggia”s first album, and builds on that with a more mature musical approach. Let”s hope it”s not quite as long before we get the next installment.