Person L-The Positives

Person L

The Positives

Human Interest Records/2009 Academy Fight Song

Rating:

Dear Kenneth Vasoli,
Sure, I’m a nostalgic person. Who isn’t? I miss the days of Saturday morning cartoons, Nickelodeon game shows, Beetleborgs, and my completely sheltered sense of naivety. A time when Blink 182 and New Found Glory had released their best albums yet, and bands like Fall Out Boy and The Starting Line were building momentum towards promising careers. I’m sorry Kenny, but I will always compare you to yourself from a different era. I even miss your blonde hair, but, I suppose that’s just a part of the memories I’ve built around growing up with your hopelessly romantic music.
Now you’ve got shaggy, curly brown hair, and your music is atmospheric and reflective. Your voice is as raspy and beautiful as ever. Maybe I won’t ever get the polished pop record that was Say It Like You Mean It, but at least I’ve got Person L to turn to. The Positives is an album full of songs that could rock arenas without losing the lyrical and sonic intimacy that you’ve become known for.

You’re album starts off with a dark build. “Hole In the Fence”, an opener that shows exactly where The Dangerous Summer gets influence from, builds into the most TSL like song on the album: “Good Days”, where you sing “You remind me of myself when I was your age”, a line that feels like you are talking to yourself; maybe trying to understand yourself more.
Other songs like “Goodness Gracious”, “Sit Tight”, “Loudmouth”, and “Pleasure Is All Mine” are enjoyable because they are reminiscent of old blues rock. They are heavy and dirty. Your drummer Ryan Zimmaro creates such an excellent basis for the bluesy guitar riffs that define these songs.
But the reason that I’m growing to love Person L lies in songs like “Changed Man”, “Untitled” and “I Sing The Body Electric”, a beautiful reference to the father of poetry, Walt Whitman. For me, “Untitled” is the best song on the record, and I was incredibly stoked to see that it was the first single on the record. Lines like “I was going through a change, or a change was going through me/and I was going through a pain, or a pain was going through me” really feed to my nostalgia of growing up and all the things that everybody has to go through.
All in all, I think you’ve definitely come a long way since the days of Drive-Thru. You seem more comfortable, and at ease with where you are at in life. It seems like this album is representative of that; a triumph over the insecurities and pain of life. And for that, I say well done, and congratulations. 15 year old me still wants a new Starting Line album though. That’s probably something that will never change.

—-Written By Rob P.
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