Roy Zimmerman: You're Getting Sleepy

I've been following Roy Zimmerman's output of musical satire since his 2004 album Faulty Intelligence, and I was certainly not disappointed by the recent You're Getting Sleepy. The CD's title is shared with the opening song and refers to the hypnosis that must be going on when half of the US electorate votes for the increasingly insane Republican Party. (Remember, Mitt Romney is their low-key, sensible and uncontroversial alternative!) As resident of a country whose entire spectrum of mainstream politics lies to the Left of Barack Obama, I of course have no problem with Zimmerman's stance. But nor do I really need to have my anti-Conservative flame fanned. I listen to Zimmerman for his razor wit and his musicianship.

These qualities are particularly in evidence on the blues tune "The Unions Are To Blame", the slickly soulful "Citizens United" (I had to look that up) and the country send-up "I'm So Friggin' Country". Zimmerman knows his Americana styles and moves effortlessly among them, which makes for nice variety. I sometimes feel bad for him when he lavishes this kind of attention on a topic that will only be notable and comprehensible for a few years ("Mister Bush Sends His Regrets"), but such of course is the nature of political satire. It buys a hard punch in the present at the price of a short shelf life.

So Dear US Reader: if you have a chance, definitely catch a Roy Zimmerman gig when he plays in your state! He's touring all 52 of them during the run-up to the presidential election. And everybody else, buy the album!