Brendan Kelly is a man of many hats in Chicago music, be it his role in The Lawrence Arms, The Falcon, and his now solo band Brendan Kelly And The Wandering Birds. I should also mention he runs one of the most out there yet funny twitter accounts around, Nililist’s Arby’s. His new solo album though is a oddly funky pop punk like record that is perfect for a sunny day out.
Going for more of a electric upbeat album instead of his previous one which was more on the darker side, Keep Walkin’ Pal opens up with the self titled song. This kicks the album off with a odder beat you might guess from its softer more guitar country like acoustic full band sound. Going from this straight into the hangover anthem that is “Shitty Margarita” works wonders though.
“Huggz” continues the trend of those early morning / late night drinking songs and shows Kelly’s more humorous approach to songs lyric wise. In tradional sense for Kelly you can also find overlapping references and callbacks to characters from other albums and bands of his on this album.
Overall Brendan Kelly has found his footing solo wise with this record. It’s catchy, infectious, and oddly upbeat in ways you wouldn’t guess it could be. This is one for fans of his to give a chance and for newer fans to start off with.
Score : 7/10
