| The Bacon Brothers |
Alternative Folk
All sorts of red flags usually go up when an actor announces he's ready for his close-up in the world of pop music. But where groundbreakers (for lack of a better word) like Don Johnson and Bruce Willis brought all their Hollywood scenery-chewing into the studio with 'em, actor Kevin Bacon (Diner, JFK, Apollo 12) manages to create a distinct -- and generally pretty likable -- separate persona. Abetted by brother Michael (who has a day job scoring Tinseltown flicks), Bacon applies his acoustic guitar and agreeably rough-hewn vocals to a passel of ditties ranging from heartland rock ("Grace") to adult-contemporary melodrama (the swelling "She Is the Heart"). The Bacons go down a lot better without a coating of syrup, however, as borne out by good-natured shuffles like "Bus Song" and "Don't Leave the Lava Lamp On for Me," which takes a good-natured nip at the standard rock-star persona. While Can't Complain offers little that you haven't heard before, the Hollywood-bred project is a lot more real than much of today's prefab competition. David Sprague
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