To simply call Andrew Vincent a singer-songwriter would be a misleading.  By definition he may fit the bill, but the term alone brings with it certain connotations unfair to label on Vincent. He is much more then a songwriter. He is a storyteller, a poet. A folk singer and a punk. He may not agree with that last title, but after listening to his latest release Rotten Pear, it is how I see him.

The record is far from perfect, but in a lot of ways, the faults of Rotten Pear are what make the record so good. The music is sparse, and stripped down. Listening to each song you can tell Vincent is not likely the greatest guitar player in the room, but when he opens his mouth, everybody listens. There are very few big instrumentations on Rotten Pear, and while The Acorns’ Jarret Bartlett, along with the rest of the guests do a great job on the record, it is Vincent’s stories that are in front, where they are supposed to be. The musicianship is not technical in the least, but these are songs that stay with you, and get better the more you know the characters being talked about. 

The 12-song collection is about life, death, friends, love, hanging out, dreams, hopes and anything else that could be crammed into a three-minute pop song. He plays with an obvious passion, and doesn’t skimp on the emotion, but unlike other writers, who cloak their songs in so thick in metaphors, Vincent is quite literal. On the song “Ruffian” he is literally talking about a kid getting beaten on the streets. There is no great mystery. There is nothing to unwrap, which is exactly why I enjoyed listening to Rotten Pear so much. It reminded me of how powerful a simple thought can be.