Mike Bones - A Fool For Everyone

The importance of lyrics in music is often overlooked these days in favour of “a good beat”. True, the majority of people will remember a tune for its hook and not the heartfelt meaning behind the words. Hence, the reign of immense pop hits offering us complex lyrics such as “I kissed a girl and I liked it / The taste of her cherry chapstick”. Profound words. Real deep. Let’s just say, these days it’s rare that a truly good lyricist will make it under their own name.

Cue Mike Strallow, or should we say Mike Bones. Having knocked about for a while on the New York music scene, strumming for the various, he eventually took to writing, releasing a first album, ‘The Sky Behind The Sea’, in 2007. Already a well-respected and talented guitarist, it’s quite impressive to hear how well he words too. On new record, ‘A Fool For Everyone’, Bones manages to convey a certain anger and violent frustration through an interesting and often soothing voice. Opener ‘Today The World Is Worthy Of My Loathing’ - well, the track title speaks for itself, really. On listening, you picture yourself in a seedy, smoky bar in deep city New York, while the band plays a form of americana and the singer slurs pessimistically over the noise: “Love will not conquer evil / Love cannot replace lust / Love tries to make men faithful / Love cannot make you trust.” It is this sort of pessimism that runs through the entire record. While the tracks, musically, are pleasant and often cheery, ‘A Fool For Everyone’ is most definitely more about the spoken and not the played. Bones portrays every ounce the tortured artist, with past drug problems now put behind him, it is clear, with many of his lyrics, that he still feels a need to redeem himself. “I’ve paid my time and I’ve done my penance / I’ve begged for all the saints in heaven / I got off drugs, I swore off women / But still, I’ve been denied, one moment’s peace.”

The album plays like a story. Or rather an autobiography; it is evident that Bones’ stuff is of great personal value, and we can safely say, it’s got rather a lot of outside value too. Lyrics aside, ‘A Fool For Everyone’ makes for good driving music: single ‘What I Have Left’ recalls early Kings Of Leon, while the whole record has been compared to the works of Nick Cave, Dylan and even Reed. We believe he still has a way to go before truly reaching their heights, but he is clearly on the path, as we now find myself a fool for Mike.