Ike Logan has a full-bodied, appealing voice that's well suited to pop music. In his first album, Breathe, he comes across as an energetic and sincere performer who has commercial potential.

He sounds quite a bit like the radio-friendly guitar-based bands of the '90s, like Counting Crows and Hootie & the Blowfish. I recognized the Hootie influence even before checking the credits and noting the involvement of two people who have worked with the band: producer Dick Hodgin (whose credits also include Crav'in Melon and The Accelerators) and percussionist Gary Greene. The other key creative voice here is Rick Allison, who has worked with Logan for years in several bands in Raleigh, N.C. The arrangements on these self-penned tunes emphasize strummy acoustic guitars, sometimes at the expense of almost everything else except Logan's voice.

It's a voice that is undeniably powerful. On the other hand, it can also come across as a bit relentless. At times I found myself wishing Logan would actually take a breath and relax ... and maybe sing a few laid-back, casual-sounding songs. Most of the songs sound virtually the same: big mid-tempo pop numbers aiming for high rotation on radio. (The notable exception is an odd spoken-word "hidden track" at the end of the disc: a parody of an evangelical preacher.)

It all takes itself very seriously (as does, I guess, lots of music in this genre). I wish that instead of going big -- and trying perhaps unsuccessfully to compete with the big commercial releases -- Logan would try a more individualistic and experimental sound. If he does, his unique voice may shine even more brightly.

- Rambles
written by Joy McKay
published 9 August 2003

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