My Dad Is Dead: Everyone Wants The Honey But Not The Sting

"Don't look now, but time is creeping up on you like an old forgotten song," warns Mark Edwards in the opening seconds of his new Everyone Wants The Honey But Not The Sting. Time has indeed caught up to Edwards, the singer/songwriter who serves as the core member of My Dad Is Dead's rotating stable of players. He's no longer trying to drown his angst with bombast, the way he did on earlier albums, and his lyrics have given way to more introspection than anger. But don't be fooled into thinking this makes Everyone a weepy, self-pitying record, fit only for the suicidal and recently dumped. Edwards again packages his neuroses with full, tight hooks and catchy phrases, each sung in his characteristically warm vocal style. The way he is able to incorporate emotional complexities into rock structure without lapsing into clichés is reminiscent of The Wedding Present and The Afghan Whigs, and Everyone Wants The Honey is full of buoyant, singable songs that have a great cathartic effect. If not for the unmarketable name with which he's saddled himself, Edwards would no doubt be a pop star of some notoriety by now. But then, who knows how success would change him and his output Here's hoping he stays small and miserable.