Eli Flynn and The Everymen

Audiences are well acquainted with Eli Flynn as a current member of the bands Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Upward Groove, and The Able Bodies, and on the stylistically diverse “Running With Scissors” — his debut solo album —there’s never a dull moment. “Easier” demonstrates Flynn’s prowess as a rock vocalist as he snarls his way through the melody with a limber range and soulful swagger that recalls the aplomb of Gavin DeGraw on his 2003 breakthrough album “Chariot” “Every Word Is a Mountain” borrows from The Able Bodies playbook of danceable ’90s pop that grooves, but mixed metaphors about “my love in a sling” and “broken logic hanging from a silver chair” distract from the song’s natural charms. Flynn’s words regain focus on the very next track. “There was a time in the beginning when devotion kept me spinning but that time is past,” he sings with calm wisdom on “Hell in a Handbasket.” Slide guitar and a Fender Rhodes organ sound meld over a loping tempo that flows like a lazy river: “Have you ever met your demons, took their advice without reason? Well I have.” Throughout the record, occasional wisps of soul and funk refresh the natural charm of Flynn’s charismatic tunes.

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