The subtitle for the new Jonathan Fox Band record, 20 Something Runaway, could easily be “A Young Man And His Guitar”. Â Although he’s recorded solo efforts before and made a choice to put more emphasis on the band this time, the songs are really about Fox and his guitar.
Fortunately Fox got a lot of inspiration in his youth from country songwriters, so under the power chords are fully fleshed out stories of, as Fox himself puts it, the roller coaster ride from clarity to despair and back again. Â Lonely Got the Better Of Me acknowledges that victories of your demons can be solid one minute and fleeting the next. Â Booze And Boredom celebrates the simple life of just sitting around getting baked, but just the lyrical presentation lets you know that’s a phase of life that you have to pass through and not stall out in the middle. Â Front Page Cliche is another song in this vein with the realization that it’s so hard not to lead someone’s idea of a cliched life.
 There are also several songs on the album that point to the angst faced by a recent college graduate, as you might infer from the album title.  Beatless Heart Blues is just that, an intrinsic understanding that to love and lose is so infinitely better than having never loved.  Death Wish is a little more straightforward, bordering on ironic, “I’ve got a death wish, standing 5-foot-one.”  We’ve all met her (or him).  Someday, and Someday (Reprise) show a little more of Fox’s singer-songwriter indie talent, with lyrics that would make Morrissey proud.
Fox admits he really doesn’t want to be restricted to a single style, and that’s evident on 20 Something Runaway. Â From guitar blues to 90’s pop rock, the album covers a lot of ground. Â Eventually I think you have to focus a little more so your fans know what to expect. Â But in the meantime 20 Something Runaway is a great listen as Fox explores a lot of electric guitar roots rock.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.