“Young Man’s Eyes” by Rob Alexander

Swinging to a familiar beat in one breath, pushing out a crunchy hook as forceful as it is entrancing in the next, Rob Alexander doesn’t know how to slow down when he starts partying in the recording studio – or, at least, it would seem so by listening to his new album Young Man’s Eyes this summer.

Keeping with the spirit of the songcraft set forth by artists like Elton John, Hall & Oats, and perhaps even a taste of a more self-conscious sound ala George Michael, Rob Alexander is not even close to afraid of getting down and dirty with a groove in “We Can Be Winners,” experimental in “Freak Show,” and vulnerable to no end in “Merry Christmas in Heaven.” There’s a lot of evidence to support the notion of this guy having a lot of love for the old guard in his genre, but at the same time, I think it’s difficult to peg his specific approach to songwriting as being particularly retro. Contrarily, I pick up a completely unfiltered, edge that seems almost unintentionally anarchistic in spots, making his truly one of the more unforced examples of a pop/rock crossover you’re going to hear in 2023.

The melodic instruments are quite crisp in “Black Widow Rising” and “Sometimes We Fall Apart” the same, but I like that the band was able to get different levels of tonality out of the grooving in each track here. There’s arguably as much attention being paid to the textural component of the strings here as there is the actual ache of the melodies they produce and in the case of “Like an Angel,” “The Soul or the Skin,” and “Your Shelter,” the backdrop is made more conservative in the mix because of this very reason.

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It clears some space for some awesome vocal harmonies in all three of the aforementioned tracks, but I wouldn’t say these songs lack aggression as a result of the formula Alexander is using. Beyond tempo, the urgency we find in this music comes through the intensity of the verses – i.e. “The Kids Don’t Play Anymore,” “Fly on the Wall,” “Young Man’s Eyes” – as opposed to the potency of a beat alone. There aren’t any weak spots in the fabric of this album, but instead only moments when the good doctor isn’t giving us every ounce of thunder he can (and not without reason, mind you).

You don’t have to be a longtime fan to find something to love about Young Man’s Eyes, but for those who have been keeping up with Rob Alexander, I think you’re going to find this record to be one of the more complete and well-rounded he has released since Long Road Coming Home – an LP I would deem his opus. Alternative rock has started to feel real again in 2023 after nearly two decades of increased stagnation well beyond the scope of what ‘80s pop stalwarts would have ever predicted for the genre, and if you’re looking for evidence of a real resurgence this year, you needn’t search any further than the killer tracklist featured in Young Man’s Eyes.

Samuel Pratt