When you listen to Eric Hutchinson's engagingly offhand take on pop, with its catchy melodies, skittish rhythms and blue-eyed-soul tints, it's easy to understand why Daryl Hall is in his corner. After all, there are moments on "Sounds Like This" when Hutchinson, a Takoma Park-bred tunesmith, conjures vivid memories of Hall & Oates's Top 40 reign, though not in ways that sound dated or predictable.

Clever songs, quirky grooves, a flair for tunefully evoking a generation of classic rockers: All of that appears to come naturally to Hutchinson, and it's that seeming effortlessness that makes his music so disarming. The ease with which Hutchinson bridges vintage and contemporary sounds also helps explain the success he has found in both old and new media. (Warner Bros. re-signed Hutchinson after "Sounds Like This" became a digital hit.)

Although "Rock & Roll," the album's initial single, is a good example of Hutchinson's buoyant brand of pop synthesis, several other tracks achieve a similar effect, including the crackling opener, "OK, It's Alright With Me," and the gospel-charged "You Don't Have to Believe Me." Hutchinson's keyboard-driven songcraft also brings to mind a youthful Billy Joel on "Oh!" and "All Over Now," but again, it's not as if he's a slave to his influences.

-- Mike Joyce, Weekend (Dec. 5, 2008)