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Long Beach’s Magic Lantern have finally gone and released a new sonic document after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. Eagerly anticipated by those who have been biding their time waiting for the band to get on with their uber limited cassette only and CD-R releases (their Self-Titled CD-R was limited to 30), “High Beams”, the band’s latest opus [...]

Matt Costa – Unfamiliar Faces

Matt Costa may be one of the most unpretentious exports of Orange County, and as a result he has avoided and far surpassed the common SoCal artist pitfall of localism (it also helps that he writes some damn catchy songs).

Unfamiliar Faces is Costa’s second album out on Brushfire Records and the follow-up to his 2005 debut Songs We Sing. While seemingly a continuation down the path first cut by Songs We Sing, Tom Dumont back at the helm of production and a video for the first single featuring a disheveled Costa dancing through various landscapes, Unfamiliar Faces is actually a sophomore album squarely inline with the progressive tradition of so many past artists who clearly influence him. Simply put it’s more mature.

Yes, that’s a cliché, but in a time when it’s more and more common for an artist to creatively max out after only one release or commoner still, to rehash the same material over and over, I think it’s an important quality. I’m not suggesting a leap from Meet the Beatles to Abbey Road, but a noticeable progression of style and maturation of substance is a welcome attribute and a sign of true talent.

“Mr. Pitiful” is the opening track on Unfamiliar Faces, and a perfect example of where Costa has steered his bright and bouncing style further from the likes of Donovan and more towards that of Harry Nilsson or the McCartney penned [White Album] songs. But just as on his previous release, there is no way to fit all the songs on Unfamiliar Faces into the same peg hole of references and influences, it’s a mixed bag. Songs such as “Lilacs” and “Cigarette Eyes,” are grounded in a more contemporary sound that one finds in the singing-surfer ilk Costa commonly tours with, while “Never Looking Back” and “Miss Magnolia” appear as more of a throwback to a time when the only songs that mattered had a harmonica and mandolin part and were written in a Laurel Canyon cabin.

Really there is almost something for everyone on Unfamiliar Faces, and I don’t mean that in a soulless retail Wal-Martesque kind of way. There is real diversity on the album, evidenced particularly by a song like “Vienna” which rides along with a smooth Brazilian jazz flavor ala Astrud Gilberto (Ray Barbee would also be a fitting reference, and a better known one in the skating crowd), and ultimately I believe it is that variety which makes Costa successful. He takes a blend of genres, eras and styles and filters them all through his own unique interpretation.

So don’t be surprised if you find yourself at one of his shows surrounded by Fashion Island princesses, Brohym tattoos and bespectacled record nerds like myself, they’ll all be there – of course that is if you can even get in.

Matt Costa plays two sold-out nights at The Troubadour February 1st and 2nd.

MP3: Matt Costa – Mr. Pitiful