Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Fans of Sufjan Stevens, Bright Eyes, and Iron and Wine will love Waz. His debut album The Sweet Bye and Bye is filled with songs that make one recall the great indie sound before shows like the OC and Laguna Beach spoiled it for the genre’s fans. Unfortunately or fortunately (it has yet to be determined), Waz’s song Mine to Remember may seem familiar to some and that would be because it is featured in an episode of MTV’s “The Hills”.  

Every song is reflective and a meditation on experience. It’s easy to dismiss this album as just another emo-sounding Plain White Tees mimicry, but Waz makes this popular sound more enjoying and different so that you won’t have to be embarrassed if you decide to sing along. Why Can’t We sounds a bit like Rooney with its up-tempo rhythm. A perfect song for the upcoming beach season, the playful guitar melody and hints of tambourine force you to at least tap your foot and even if you restrain yourself to just tapping the toe, you won’t deny the craving to break out into some kind of dance.

Songs like Holding On and Hardly Enough, which starts off the album on a high note, made me forget that this talented singer-songwriter grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, listening to The Pretenders and Neil Young, and headed out to LA right after graduation, where he met up with friend Pete Yorn. After touring together with their band, Waz was struck by the strong connection that music had with audiences and in his attempt to capture the human condition, Waz crafted songs and performed them, turning the heads of Rolling Stone magazine and gradually creating a following.