Ari Shine "Ghost Town Directory"

Ari Shine has racked up plenty of miles on the road, opening for artists like Rhett Miller, John Doe, Hugh Cornwell of the Stranglers, Redd Kross, Silversun Pickups, the Donnas, Liam Finn and many others. Ari’s new album is  a product of this experience. “All I’ve Got Is Love” is polished single that incorporates a a strong melody line with power chords aplenty. “Against The Night” and “It’s A Go” are also well produced and slick, but don’t resonate as well as the opener. It gets better with the slow building “Here With Me” as he clearly states “…Everything I need is here with me.” Another standout here is the thrilling “One Silver Morning” with it’s energetic beat akin to Golden Earring’s “Radar Love.” But here it’s updated with Shine’s earthy vocals and swirling guitar riffs.

Little touches on “Better Any day” and “Refuge In You” pull it above standard material here, however the remaining songs fail to approach the intensity of “One Silver Morning.” Overall a good album, but you get the sense that Ari maybe tries too hard on some of the more commercial sounding tracks. Where he shines is on openly melodic stuff like the bonus track “Ship In A Bottle.”