AMG Review of You Don't Know Me

John D. Luerssen
All Music Guide

Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter Adam Marsland delivers a kickass album with You Don't Know Me. Be it the reflective, guitar-steered stomp of "My Kickass Life" or the acerbic, introspective "Other Than Me," Marsland recalls both a young Warren Zevon and a solo Ben Folds. The set opener is the best example of the latter, as "You Don't Know Me" combines wry lyrics ("You dropped your pants and told me to pucker/But I ain't your sucker"), a creative Folds-like piano line, and the timeless jazzy sway of Steely Dan. The guy even turns the hook from Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" into a revelatory, infectious keeper, before asserting his rock & roll chops on the accessible, accelerated "Have a Nice Day." Marsland even masters falsetto pop with "The Big Bear," proving there's little he can't do and do well.