Dave Vargo

Ghost Towns

Self-released

New Jersey-based roots rocker Dave Vargo returns with his fourth album, Ghost Towns. Vargo, a Berklee College of Music graduate, has built his reputation on inventive guitar riffs and solos, infectious choruses, true-to-life character portraits, and stories. While he can be overly poppy at times, his best songs lie in the Americana realm, where his narratives, buttressed by his guitar licks, thrive. Again, he teams with drummer Tim Pannella (Ray LaMontagne, Nicole Atkins), along with bassist Todd Lanka, and Danielle Marrone on backing vocals.

The opening track and single, “Anything at All,” is the last song he wrote for the album. It fits into that ‘70s and ‘80s radio-friendly format, the classic breakup song narrative, posing the question after the relationship’s demise, whether one really misses anything, with the cinching line “How much is left when everything is a lie.”  The chugging rhythm is slightly annoying; however, his guitar break shines. The title track, contrary to what one might assume, does not play to a melancholic soundscape. Instead, Vargo sings over insistent beats about those lingering thoughts in a broken relationship that won’t abate – “All those same old empty roads take you through and around/They always lead you back to your ghost town.” “New Life” plays to a buoyant, infectious riff as the protagonist seeks renewal, capped off by a spiraling, reaching guitar solo.

“No Second Guessing” downshifts the tempo slightly. Yet, Vargo’s trademark riffing and singable choruses develop as the lyrics depict a conversation between two friends, one offering empathy and steadfast advice to the other. Not to suggest that Vargo has much in common with Springsteen besides the native state, several songs invoke the highway and the urge to run, as in “Let It Go.” Consistent with the theme of so many of these “Tales To Tell” is another nod to escape, a place to re-energize. Yet, his choice of that place seems a bit unusual – “Just pick some small town/Where history stakes its claim/No eyes that know you/But they know the pain.”

The notion of leaving the ghosts behind appears again in “Not So Young.”

We do get a major change in outlook in “Those Little Things,” a joyous ode to resilience, honoring a friend who endured a lengthy battle with cancer, only to eventually lose. Yet, she maintained an optimistic outlook through her struggle, admirable qualities that Vargo attests to in his lyrics. Pannella’s beats and his emphatic cymbal crashes are timed perfectly. Admiration for a friend surfaces in completely different circumstances in “But I Do,” citing courage for standing tall in a doomed relationship.

Keith Richards-like riffs color “Promises,” yet another song with a bouncy, uplifting vibe that speaks to unrealized dreams or potential.  In closing, Vargo remains thematically consistent, seeking a new start by returning home in “Where It Started,” realizing, as author Thomas C. Wolfe said, “you can never go home again.”

 Vargo might be better served by varying his tempos and giving his guitar a longer leash. Yet, he clearly is a master of riffs and demonstrates a clear, though too often, negative view of the human condition. No matter how bleak the lyrics are, though, he keeps us engaged with his bright, lighthearted music.

Jim Hynes

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