After two well regarded albums with the roots rock outfit Mannix, the band’s spark plug Joe Mannix took off for solo pastures with 2003’s White Flag. The primarily acoustic release showed the full range of Mannix’s influences (Joe Pernice, Elliott Smith, Bob Dylan, Neil Young) along with a few pop and folk touchstones. With his new solo album, A Town By the Sea, Mannix hews closer to the folk side of his creative persona, as the roots and pop aspects become more fully integrated into his total presentation. While Mannix’s longstanding sonic cues remain, they’re slightly harder to pick out of the big picture; the assimilation of his influences suggests a Neil Young-meets-Nils Lofgren folk/roots shimmer. Neither White Flag nor A Town By the Sea are truly solo records; Mannix hits the studio with plenty of wildly talented friends who help him realize his vision, from the Dylan-esque “Another Place Another Time” and the period folk harmonies of “Silver and Gold” to the soul shake of “Tomorrow the Sun Will Shine.” Enjoy A Town By the Sea until Mannix’s next move.
-BRIAN BAKER