Ahmond

"A Boy You Once Knew" CD

self-released

Genre: folk-pop, singer / songwriter, folk-rock

Brooklyn, NY

Feb 6, 2009

Self-produced and self-released, A Boy You Once Knew is Ahmond's labour of love. He's gone to tremendous effort to make it a swell-looking release, and he's also devised an elaborate promotional campaign to get it to masses. As for the music, it's pretty much modern folk-pop – easy to listen to although somewhat forgettable. This being Ahmond's first release, it is unsurprising that several of these songs fall a little flat. True to its title, soft pop relic “The Forgotten Realm” easily slips from memory, while neo-mystical “Everything Eden” is extremely corny. On the other hand, melodic rock nugget “Those Damn Things” and the delicate title-track show considerable promise, while Crowded House-esque “Go To Africa” and glossy “You're the Life” are also tight. The album's best asset turns out to be its instrumental final track, a moody tribal piece led by mandolin; in fact, it was even plucked out for use in HBO's Rome. A tad inconsistent, and somewhat unpolished, A Boy You Once Knew is impressive for a self-produced debut. However, I can't help but feel that Ahmond's best is yet to come.

ahmond's myspace

70%

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 9 tracks, distributed by the band, released September 2008]