A Review of Jordan Critz's EP

Album Release Date: April 7, 2009

Rating: 3.5/5

Jordan Critz has some clear musical talent. Proficient on numerous instruments and skilled in songwriting, this most recent EP is a nice sample of tunes that demonstrates those talents well. He has a soothing voice, and a knack for crafting melodies that evoke emotion on their own. Many of these songs would fit nicely on many mainstream radio stations, and I’m interested to hear more from Critz in the future. The potential is definitely there.

After a few listens to the Jordan Critz EP, I couldn’t figure out why I kept experiencing nostalgic feelings. Finally, I realized that I felt like I was listening to many of my favorites from the late 90s. Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Five For Fighting, and others are clearly influences here. That emotional pop/rock style is clearly present throughout these 6 songs, and if you liked any of the stuff by bands like those, you will find things to like here.

My other thought was that many of these songs would fit perfectly in a movie soundtrack. “Western Shore,” in particular, conjured up all kinds of images in me as it dealt with themes of moving on and starting over. I could easily picture that as the theme to a movie or playing during a montage of a TV show. In fact, I believe Critz has done some work in movies or TV in the past, and one of the songs from his previous album was featured on the show “Army Wives.”

The album follows with more piano-driven tracks, “Turn Away” and “To Be Me” (which clearly harkens back to songs like Five For Fighting’s “100 Years”). “Faded Lights,” with its acoustic rock sound, is where Critz voice started to sound a little like John Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls on the chorus.

I think my favorite song on the album would be “Cold Sunshine.” This song begins with some beautiful work on the piano, before launching into a soaring chorus. Again, the feelings of nostalgia were thick for me. Many of the bands I enjoyed in high school had a similar sound here. For some reason, 8Stops7 (if anyone else even remembers them) kept coming to my mind here.

All of these comparisons are simply to give people a feel for Critz’s sound as I’m assuming many (like me) have never heard of him before. Is this EP worth checking out? If you like any of the bands I’ve mentioned, or just like emotionally driven acoustic/piano rock, you’ll likely enjoy this little collection. The lyrics are a little vague for my taste at times, but they evoke the desired emotions with poetic imagery where necessary. I believe Critz is a Christian, but you probably wouldn’t know that strictly from this EP. Redemptive themes are definitely there, however, and I enjoyed this more than I expected.