The first thing that has to be said about Walter Clevenger’s The Man With The X-ray Eyes is that it sounds exactly like a Nick Lowe record. And I mean exactly. Clevenger doesn’t just have a fondness for a similar sort of catchy pop song with clever lyrics. His vocals, though not so rich, actually mimic Lowe’s own, and Clevenger’s melodies, riffs and rhythms are clearly modeled after Lowe’s past bands, Rockpile and His Cowboy Outfit (though, perhaps because Clevenger often plays all or most of the instruments, the performances here have a good deal less snap). The Lowe template is traced so exactingly, in fact, that even when you can pick out a brief Byrdsian jangle here or a Beatlesque middle-eight there, it always comes off like the Byrds and the Beatles as filtered through Nick Lowe. And, really now, how many Nick Lowes does the world need?
Well, if you love pure pop as much as I do, the answer to that question is an emphatic “As many as we can damn well get.” So the second thing that has to be said about The Man With The X-ray Eyes is that it not only sounds just like a Nick Lowe record; it sounds just like one of those early Nick Lowe records, which were very, very good. Granted, Clevenger’s debut may be just one step away from tribute band territory, but it’s filled with such charming self-deprecation (“I ain’t the most attractive thing,” he sings at one point), and his songs are so dad-blamed catchy and clever, that to cultivate any responses other than surrender and pleasure is to deliberately miss the point of the thing.
One final thing has to be said, though. While Clevenger certainly succeeds at what he attempts, it’s also true that his greatest strength could also one day become a real limitation: If Clevenger really wants to follow Lowe’s lead, he should go one step further. Lowe’s finest moments came when he found a way to filter his influences through his own unique vision. If Clevenger can ever find a way to filter Nick Lowe through Walter Clevenger, he could be so good that, someday, someone will want to copy him.
