Pete Yorn

One Liner: Pop rock mastermind

Poster Position: 12

Thoughts:  So, if you have been a loyal and faithful reader on my blog, you might remember the summer I spent in Corpus Christi, playing Yorn's Day I Forgot album on a loop.  So I've got a deep soft spot in my heart for that album, and the great tuneful poppy-ness of his tunes.  That album came out in 2003, which seems like a long time ago for a disc that still feels fresh to me.  Interestingly, none of the songs from that album crack Yorn's top ten.  But screw it, I'll play you the hit from that album anyway before I get to the big hits. 

Or not, I figured "Come Back Home" would be the most popular track, but at 109k streams, its actually third place on that disc.  "Crystal Village" (244k) and "Turn of the Century" (166k) have more streams.  Weird.  Well whatever, you're getting "Come Back Home."

Great, driving rock and roll.  Touch of the drum machine before the real drums kick in, and Yorn isn't afraid at all to use some basic electronics.  This album was his second, and while I love it for personal reasons, the first one is the real classic for me, called musicforthemorningafter.  Its tunes occupy 5 of his top ten most popular tracks, despite being from 15 years ago.  Once again, I incorrectly assumed the song that would be his top hit from the album.  I would have guessed "Life on a Chain," I guess I just like upbeat pop rock, but it is actually "On Your Side," with 3.7 million streams.

I bet people put that track on their love playlist mixes they Snapchat to their bae in the DM. It really is a nice song, so I get why it is popular.  This whole album is good stuff.

His next albums are fine, but none of them has ever done it for me the same way as those first two. 2004's Live from New Jersey is fine.  2006's Nightcrawler has one song that I've always liked more than the rest, the Natalie Maines-assisted "The Man."

222k streams for that one.  It's no all-out jam, but its beautiful and kind of loose, like a Ryan Adams track but with more harmonies.

2009's Break Up was an interesting album, in that the whole thing has actress Scarlett Johansson as his duet partner.  I don't love any of it, her voice is surprisingly good, but she keeps it in a torchy, sultry register the whole time that comes off as contrived sounding to me.  Check "I Don't Know What to Do."  However, either I am wrong, or the rest of the world just likes listening to her jam with Pete, because three of his top ten songs are from this album, and his most listened to, by a bunch, comes from this album.  Here is "Relator," with 8.5 million streams.

Snappy little tune, not bad or anything, something about the album just bugs me.  2009's Back and Fourth is just fine.  2010's Pete Yorn is a more straight-forward rock album (until the country-soaked album closer "Wheels") that sounds like grunge-y Soundgarden and Eddie Vedder at different moments.  It also includes a tune called "Velcro Shoes" that made me grin.  And then the most recent album is 2016's ArrangingTime, which is the best stuff he's done since Nightcrawler to me.  "Lost Weekend" is the biggest song, with just over 1 million streams.

I'll give Yorn one thing for sure, he is dedicated to that hairdo.  His look in photos and videos stays remarkably the same over the past 15 years.  Also, go nerd drummer boy!  Get you some, dawg!

So, what does all of this mean?  I like Pete Yorn.  He isn't breaking major musical barriers or anything, but his music is tuneful and fun and would probably be a good time live.  I'm going to plan to go see him.