Music Review: Gavin DeGraw
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this album takes listeners full
circle through the ups and downs of romantic relationships.
Although passion, desire, and even lust are explored, the
album's lyrics stay rather tame. The song "Medicate the Kids"
looks down on over medicating kids for behavioral issues.
Families can talk about how TV can help promote musicians.
DeGraw came into the national spotlight after his song "I Don't
Want To Be" was picked as the theme song for the series
One Tree Hill. Do you think having a song that's played
a lot on TV helps an artist become popular? Can you think of
any other times when a musician or band has become popular
because of a show?
Gavin DeGraw is a burgeoning singer-songwriter whose third album is a little bit country and a little rock 'n' roll, with a whole lot of sensitive crooning. While the album of 11 songs is filled with sweet love songs, there are also a few songs that veer off into rougher territory.
DeGraw is a singer of many moods. He can be soulful and vulnerable, but he can be audaciously seductive on tracks such as "Next to Me." His songwriting isn't the most complex nor the most subtle, with lines like "Wishing wells were made to echo a dime/the consequences are you keep on relying/you've become a run and hide refugee/baby I'm a cop, stop, put up your hands and surrender to me." DeGraw is at his best when he's the good-guy singing about good feelings ("I'm In Love With a Girl") or on off-beat songs that don't talk about love or sex, such as "Medicate the Kids" a song about the over-use of prescription drugs to remedy childhood behavior problems. No doubt, his easy-to-listen-to blend of rock and pop and mix of brash sexuality and sensitivity will surely appeal to many girls.
Sara BareillesJack Johnson
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