John Hoskinson, Pancho Fantastico

From the first note of Pancho Fantastico, it’s immediately obvious that John Hoskinson has a knack for writing catchy melodies and tight instrumentation. Unfortunately, these characteristics prove to be the album’s downfall. The opener, “Miss Rejection,” is plenty loaded with charming hooks and super saccharine vocal harmonies, but sounds like it should be the opening music to a Perfect Strangers-esque sitcom where a couple of people skip through the park and playfully push each other around. Most of the following songs suffer from a lesser degree of the same syndrome, though there are some high points — the light and carefree music behind “Only One By Your Side” makes up for the straining vocals, and “Please Stay Off My Side” has a steady driving bass line that easily distinguishes the song from the rest of the album.

Another standout is the last track, “We Can Never Be Friends,” but as a finale, it just further confirms the whole album as a set of your-best-Jon-Brion-impressions — the bass lines climb in the right places, the accidentals happen exactly when they need to, the quirky instruments appear at the perfect time, etc. But while Jon Brion’s songs all have a kind of delicacy to them, the songs on Pancho Fantastico want to be force-fed through the listener’s ears. Still, Hoskinson’s recognizable talent is easily solid enough to make some fans.