ROCKIN’ YOU TONIGHT - BLAINE LARSEN
There’s little as exciting as watching a budding talent blossom into full bloom. On his second outing, Larsen, 20, gives short shrift to the sophomore jinx with a truly terrific piece of work. In a country-as-can-be baritone, he displays insight into his material far beyond his years and complete control of whatever he touches. Picking standouts is tough on an album only a couple of songs short of batting a thousand. Larsen aces everything from ballads to breezy midtempos and rockers with a perfect grasp of humor and irony (”No Woman,” “I Don’t Wanna Work That Hard”), stand-by-my-woman testimonies (”Spoken Like a Man,” “I’m in Love With a Married Woman”), spirituality (”At the Gate”) and even social consciousness (”Someone Is Me”). Not bad at all for a kid who surely is still just warming up. Billboard
