It’s no wonder that the prolific David Ramirez is known to completely quiet a loud bar when he begins playing his songs. His low, powerful, pitch-perfect voice can be compared to Matt Berninger’s of The National or Stephin Merritt’s of The Magnetic Fields, with an added tinge of folky twang. His voice is simultaneously piercing and soft, and as I sat down to write about it in a crowded coffee shop with my headphones in place, his voice drowned out everything else around me.
“The Bad Days” is the track Ramirez is pushing as his first single and is, in my opinion, the best one on the album. With lyrics such as “there are gonna be weeks when you’re all alone / because of the days I’m chained to that open road / but I hope the years that we come up short / are swallowed by the years that we make it work,” Ramirez captures a well-known, slow country rhythm with universal ideals of love and persistence that is relatable and comforting to most listeners. I liked this song, like anyone currently dating someone would, because of that very universal notion of making things work because you love someone in spite of bad days. It’s a nice, moving song that should help create some new fans for Ramirez.
That being said, I didn’t find much of the rest of the album particularly poetic, compelling, or different from many other songs in the singer-songwriter genre. I didn’t feel that his songs had a depth to them that other artists in this genre don’t have as well. However, despite not having innovative lyrics, it is his voice and presence that make him unique and promising. Take “Glory,” for example. “There is nothing like my baby’s love/ better than wine and whiskey, my baby get’s me drunk / You take me to glory, love / You take me to glory, love.” While the richness of his voice is ever-present, the lyrics to this track, like most of the others on this EP, fall short of being interesting or fresh in a genre that relies heavily on the importance of lyrics.
The Rooster is not an album I will listen to over and over again, but it will come in handy for the times I need a “soul calming,” earnest, honest set of songs. And I truly believe Ramirez’s new EP will be a treat to see played live – the impact of his voice and charisma will only be amplified in that setting. His EP release party is at the Cactus Cafe on May 7th.
– Bailey Cool
