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Franklin Bruno Reviews

FRANKLIN BRUNO
A Bedroom Community
From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 431 - Jun 12, 1995

Best known as the bespectacled guy fronting the Inland Empire's word-wise rock trio Nothing Painted Blue, Franklin Bruno has already penned and recorded volumes of reflective, beautifully crafted songs. A Bedroom Community , however, is his first solo full-length, developing more fully a one-man expression for his insightful songs. He alternately shapes the 13 songs here with guitar and piano, sometimes combining the two in a contemplative mood ("Layered Look"), but the focus remains on his smooth voice and clearly enunciated lyrics; Bruno is above mumbling shyly into his mic, so we can chew on lines like "The table scraps you left me weren't worth refrigerating" ("A Frozen Lake") without straining too much. Far from the insulated cul de sac wryly suggested by its title, A Bedroom Community is a triumph of artistry over uninformative categorization ("indie pop," "love rock"), with songs such as the cleverly arranged "Ghost Postage," the crisp "The Two Of You," the more fully arranged "The Lonelysocks Generation" and the darker "Uninsulated Wall," reaching out to any listener with a few quiet moments.
-LYDIA ANDERSON

There's also a great review of Bedroom Community at www.popshots.org here