www.heathstreetmusic.com
myspace.com/heathstreetmusic

Here at JoyHog!, we get A LOT of CDs.  Like, a lot.  And to be quite honest, we often open them just a couple inches above the rubbish bin, ready to drop it inside if it doesn’t somehow leap out at us.  Perhaps I have a certain bias for a band like this one.  If I see signs of the Boston music scene, my old stomping grounds, then I just can’t help myself.  Heath Street has been around since 2000, playing dorm rooms, crunchy Cambridge coffee shops, and now some of the finer NYC establishments like The Bitter End.  The sound has been compared to James Taylor, which, really, is not too far off.  It’s a folksy-pop-y blend of guitar, piano, mandolin, drums and bass. It also brings to mind Jake Armerding’s chillness.  As for this album, it gets off to a great start with catchy tunes like “Yellow Shoes” and “Song for Jim Carroll,” but somehow the second half lacks the buoyancy of the first.  Nonetheless, if an album has six or seven tracks I can listen to on repeat a few times, it’s totally worth it.