Apparently, Mike Droho wants to be Hugh Hefner. His newly released solo album, Outtakes, is sponsored by Playboy and free for download on his MySpace page. Droho comically raps that “if he could walk inside Hugh Hefner’s shoes for just an hour, he could die a happy man today.”
As a work of comedy on an album that presupposes jokes and bloopers due to its title, this song fully succeeds. The truth is, however, Droho uses beatboxing and sub-toned bass to form the basis for his rhythm, surf/chill-styled acoustic guitar, which is overdubbed with ear-piercing electric guitar work. Because of all these layers, it can be assumed Droho takes the music as seriously as he does his lyrics. Regardless of the true intent of humor behind this song, there is one relation I can derive between Hefner and Droho: They both love variety. Where Hefner’s manliness, according to Droho, derives from his ability to have “slain” (or slept) with tons of beautiful women, Droho’s talent as a musician derives from his ability to combine all styles of song from rock to rap. This is not done, however, the same way Rage Against the Machine combined rock and rap to create their own sound. A song like “Much Left Misunderstood” represents Droho’s more simplistic approach to music as he embodies a singer-songwriter through the use of acoustic guitar, harmonized voices, awful harmonica sounds and electric guitar noise, and yes, this is his more simplistic approach. On “Into Light is Dark,” Droho manages to combine ’80s-inspired synth dance groves I might find on a Britney Spears’ song, whiny vocals that try to hide his inability as a lyricist and his typical ear-piercing electric guitar leads, thus proving Mike Droho is a man torn between genres.
In a day and age where songs reorganized by mash-up artist Girl Talk rule the stereo at house parties and the speaker systems at bars, it’s no wonder contemporary musicians have decided to combine genres. Droho is undoubtedly talented, but he has no signature sound — even Girl Talk’s sound is more original. His voice sounds like that of a college a cappella singer in key but falls short of feeling believable or truthfully relatable. Lyrics such as “The path into the light is often dark/ There’s gotta be something more than this,” again only furthers the blandness his unoriginal voice provides. Lyrics like this make me cringe and laugh at the same time — an emotional combination no one looks forward to when listening to music. With listed influences on his MySpace page such as Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin and Wilco, do not be fooled — none of the artistry and musicianship any of these artists or bands provide have translated into his music. Droho’s influence from Dave Matthews, Prince, Jason Mraz and Dashboard Confessional seem a bit more applicable.
Admittedly, Droho’s songs are catchy. The melodies have been stuck in my head for the past two days, and though this is somewhat bothersome, this guy has done his job. Hopefully, he will eventually find his signature sound and meaningful lyrics that adhere, but until then, Droho’s music should not be taken very seriously — at least for those of us who prefer quality over variety.
2 1/2 stars out of 5.
