Nick Pags kicks off Long Gone with the title track. The drums and the piano at the beginning of "Long Gone" somehow remind me of "Eleanor" by The Turtles. It's a short, catchy tune to lead off the CD.Pags has a nice even voice that sounds similar to Jackson Browne, but a bit deeper in tone. Allow me to amend that. (Hey, it's my review, right?) While there is some Jackson Brown in his vocals, his voice actually reminds me more of Ian Sefchick from Creeper Lagoon. These are short, straightforward songs: just guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and vocals. He puts just enough twang in his songs to let you know that he's from Nashville, but this isn't standard Nashville fare, that's for sure.
"Come Back Around" is probably my favorite song on the CD, but all the songs are quite good, if a bit on the short side. Nick Pags displays considerable talent as a singer/songwriter with a good ear for both melodies and harmonies. I think the beauty of this CD is its simplicity. Nick Pags says it best in the last track, "It's not rocket science here." He's right. It's not rocket science, just six good songs. What can I say? I'm a sucker for an artist that can deliver the goods without a lot of bells and whistles. And Nick Pags certainly does that.
