Friday, August 18, 2006

ANDY SULLIVAN"Private Wars"Andy Sullivan

FROM PHIL OCHS TO Chuck D, politically minded pop musicians have treated their work as a news medium. That's a logical approach for local singer-songwriter Andy Sullivan, who actually works as a news service reporter. Sullivan was a member of the Midwestern alt-country band Steeplejack, but his solo debut, "Private Wars," shows he has picked up some D.C. lore. The album's most celebrated tune, "The Internet Is Changing Everything," features the refrain: "Alan Greenspan / Alan Greenspan / Alan Greenspan / Alan Greenspan."

Sullivan likes repetition, as he demonstrates with a song that doggedly reiterates its title, "They Keep Coming, We Keep on Knocking Them Down." He also offers two versions of "White Van," a song inspired by the 2002 sniper case, and an ironic drug-dealing ode, "Don't It Feel Good?" The musical style wanders from neo-folkie to heavy boogie, and the lyrical tone roves with it. "Private Wars" isn't especially cohesive, and some parts are better realized than others, but then again aren't most newspapers like that?

-- Mark Jenkins

Appearing Saturday at the Velvet Lounge with Cascade in Blue and Hallelujah Boy.