Advance CD Review: Sad Man Happy Man by Mike Doughty

Mike Doughty's last album Golden Delicious was a move toward the pop mainstream, but it didn't result in increased album sales or visibility. His new release, Sad Man Happy Man, finds the former Soul Coughing frontman returning to the acoustic sound that he adopted at the start of his solo career, with great results.

"Lord Lord Help Me Just to Rock Rock On" is a fun, up-tempo number, and one of the heaviest tracks on Sad Man HappyMan. Its lengthy, straightforward title recalls the Golden Delicious track "I Just Want the Girl in the Blue Dress to Keep on Dancing," proving that perhaps the best song titles are those that say exactly what's on the singer's mind, regardless of how verbose the thought is. "Lord Lord" works up to an explosive climax with Doughty screaming the song title repeatedly.

"I got words but I'm not loquacious," Doughty insists on "Pleasure on Credit," which showcases the clever beat-rapping that was Doughty's trademark in Soul Coughing. Doughty spins together free-associative lyrics that touch on Ronald Reagan, bustling hedges, and video conferencing, and somewhere in there is a comment on American consumerism.

"How to Fuck a Republican" is a song that somehow combines political observations with a story of having sex with someone from the opposite end of the political spectrum. Doughty sings, "She spoke of bonds and of bank accounts / Numbers turned to babble when I ate her out."

Sad Man Happy Man proves that Doughty is once again a master at creating vivid imagery, whether singing about "heirloom pearls on clavicles" or "a weeping tranny cradling a steak knife." He was going through a breakup while writing Sad Man Happy Man, and many of the songs reflect that. On "I Want to Burn You Down," a dejected Doughty laments, "She treats me like her parole officer/ She checks in from time to time." "Lorna Zauberberg" is another song dealing with the breakup, a mostly-acoustic track that is one of the best on Sad Man HappyMan.

The final track on Sad Man Happy Man is "Casper the Friendly Ghost" - not the cartoon theme song, but a cover of the song by folk singer Daniel Johnston. The tragic tale about a man who was unappreciated until he died is a fitting way to close the album. Though Doughty seems to be more sad man than happy man on this record, the mostly-acoustic album is very listenable, and perhaps his best solo effort yet.

Sources:

ATO Records fact sheet/bio

http://blogs.abcnews.com/allan_raible/2008/02/mike-doughtys-g.html