ShareThis"PASS IT AROUND," Donavon Frankenreiter (Lost Highway)Donavon Frankenreiter has a more distinct name than his longtime buddy Jack Johnson, but the two surfers-turned-surf-rockers are fairly even at relying on characteristic charisma to compensate for their indistinct music.Still, Frankenreiter does dare to complicate his uncomplicated sound a tad, dipping his toe in the uncertain waters of experimentalism and ultimately going on a humble bit of style surfing. Yet the most dramatic twist comes with the mariachi horns of the playful "Your Heart." Otherwise, "Pass It Around" doesn't stretch much beyond a glimmering organ here and a roll of percussion there.It's just as well Frankenreiter keeps it simple, because simple is his forte.He's blissfully down to earth with an endearing laid-back approach. His philosophy on life doesn't amount to anything but a stream of stitched-together bumper-sticker slogans on the full-bodied-folk opener "Life, Love & Laughter," where he sings, "Everything you need could be right in front of you." Frankenreiter conjures an even more compelling spell with his subtle whispers on "Too Much Water," where a humming bass escorts him through a story about drinking wine at a party, and he eventually drops in choruses of "sha-la-la-la-la-la."On the toasty "Sing a Song," which features a resonant keyboard-and-bass vibe, he sings, "When's the last time you said hello to a stranger on the street?" And during the glowing, organic closer "Come Together," he decides, "We should be together, maybe forever."Not surprisingly, "Pass It Around" can get tedious: Frankenreiter goes bland when he rambles about leaving his past behind on "Come With Me," for example, and he's so mellow on "Hit the Ground Running" that the song evaporates more than it ends.Meanwhile, his vacuous lyrics may leave listeners pining for a more substantial use of his soulful vocals.Frankenreiter's no Socrates, dude.Rating (five possible): 3-1/2"AN INVITATION," Inara George with Van Dyke Parks (Everloving)It was inevitable indie-pop singer Inara George would work with arranger Van Dyke Parks -- not because her voice lends itself to an orchestral setting, which it doesn't in any obvious way, but because Parks was a close friend and collaborator with her late father, Little Feat frontman Lowell George.Despite George's lack of a knack for the type of grandstanding typically associated with orchestra-backed vocalists, Parks is an adaptable guy who has worked with the likes of U2, Cher, the Scissor Sisters and Frank Black, among scores of others. And he finds a way to make his inevitable project with George work.The resulting "An Invitation" plays to George's casual persona as she moves with billowy grace through breezy and often whimsical strings. There's a lushness to some arrangements, such as those for "Duet" and "Tell Me That You Love Me," but there's likewise a more impish -- cartoonish, even -- texture that pervades cuts such as "Don't Let It Get You" and "Dirty White." Each song captures a moment and an emotion in vignette form, from the sweet jaunt of "Right as Wrong" to the melancholy meandering of "Bomb." George makes a few unsuccessful forays into her upper and lower ranges, but generally she keeps her voice on an even keel and lets her breathy charm drive the mood.Ultimately, "An Invitation" feels like an "attack" by a swarm of butterflies. Each song flutters by quickly, none leaves a mark and many are almost indistinguishable from each other. Yet the flurry generates pleasant excitement while it lasts.Rating: 3-1/2"OCEANS WILL RISE," The Stills (Arts & Crafts)The Stills offer an inviting version of the apocalypse on this new release, and although the title and the skull on the cover of the Quebec band's new "Oceans Will Rise" give ample warning of the doom in the lyrics, they give no indication of the captivating music in store.Yet the tone is set early, as a full-bodied, melodic jangle supports David Hamelin's warning on opening cut "Don't Talk Down": "Don't talk down to me/Your head is moving side to side."High-arching choruses and dramatic uprisings in pace punctuate the U2-descended "Oceans Will Rise." However, the arrangements are kept just shy of overwrought. Smoothly produced keyboards and guitars hash it out in tandem, cascading all around the singer as his consistently ominous words are tempered by his alluring delivery. There's a clear formula at work, one that routinely stretches the tension as a song progresses, but the group tampers with its sound enough to avoid predictability.The humbly meditative beginning of "Everything I Build" subtly increases its tautness, for example, and, by contrast, the raucous "Eastern Europe" ushers in frisky guitars and urgent vocals. Meanwhile, "Snakecharming the Masses" introduces world-music energy to the mix, and "Statue of Sirens" closes the release on a lullabylike note as the mellow vocalist sings, "I'm bringing up the past to put it all to rest.""Oceans Will Rise" may feature lines such as "Everything I build is breaking down" ("Everything I Build") and "I can't escape the tears, one for every broken bone" ("Being Here"), yet thanks to their glossy presentation, they seem almost reassuring.Rating: 4(E-mail Chuck Campbell of The Knoxville News-Sentinel in Tennessee at Campbell(at)knews.com.)
Humble surf-rocker doesn't make waves
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
