James Mastro
★★★
Dawn Of A New Error
MPRESS. CD/DL
New Jersey singer/ songwriter and Ian Hunter’s guitarist’s debut solo album.
As a former member of Hoboken ’80s powerpop band The Bongos and a sideman for Patti Smith and Southside Johnny, James Mastro distils several decades of studio and road experience into this collection. His current musical partner, Ian Hunter, adds backing vocals to Right Words, Wrong Song, which would have slotted right into Hunter’s recent Defiance Part 1 LP. While Dawn Of A New Error isn’t reinventing the wheel (think: standard rock, pop and Americana), Mastro’s writing chops and lived-in voice carry everything, from the punchy Three Words through to the more reflective My God and the lyrically bleak Never Die. “You think you own the world but you’re not that clever,” he declares on River Runs Forever, one of many songs marked by a stoic self-awareness and willingness to address life’s mistakes. For so long in the shadows, Mastro deserves his turn in the spotlight.