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Thursday, 08 December 2005 06:46

Above all, Yorn has a unique gift for writing realistic love songs.

On Day I Forgot, Pete Yorn continues compiling his resume to be this  generation’s Springsteen. Yorn shares more than the Boss’s blue-collar fashion sense, Jersey roots, and brooding good-looks; Pete’s knack of finding the universal in his personal stories echoes the elder statesman of rock ’n’ roll singer/songwriters.

Day I Forgot takes Yorn fans down a similar path as his previous effort, the critically acclaimed musicforthemorningafter. The first single on the new record, “Come Back Home,” is a classic end-of-the-road song. Like much of the album, the song was written and recorded at the end of a year-and-a-half marathon touring schedule. The resulting sound is a mix of euphoria and exhaustion; it captures that 3:00 a.m. rush of energy before the inevitable crash. Yorn creates straightforward rock ’n’ roll without the trappings of “modern rock” and the glut of garage revivalists. There are faint echoes of Jim Morrison on “Carlos: Don’t Let it Go to Your Head” and David Bowie on “When You See the Light.”

Above all, Yorn has a unique gift for writing realistic love songs. On this album, absent is the Your Body Is a Wonderland imagery of more radio-friendly fare and in its place is a strange little gem called “Burrito.” Yorn croons, “It’s a 7-11/Do you wanna take a walk outside/If you want a burrito/You can have a bite of mine…/Come on over tonight.” Though Yorn delivers the album with an expressive voice, he has yet to master vocals like the other dozens of instruments he plays on Day I Forgot. Fans of Musicforthemorningafter will not be disappointed, but Yorn has left himself with some room to grow.