With already two albums under his belt, Nick Cogan returns with his latest endeavor, This is the Life. This time around he decided that it was high time to look for new horizons by plugging in and mixing up new sounds. He also bought a house, built a studio and took a half-year off of work to record a collection of new and old songs. Songwriting is something Cogan has been doing since he was 11 and on this latest release he sings about love lost and loved gained, good times in one’s youth and what it means to trust somebody but also having that trust broken.
“The World” eases into this full-length album with a steady beat and talks about how the world has gone crazy but “our love’s about to begin.” Yes the world is a mad, mad place but someone by your side can often ease your worried mind. “Without You” begins with a raunchy guitar and a “Oh yeah” belted out loud. From what I could tell, it seems to be about being infatuated with someone (at a bar) and you’re ready to make your move, which could be your only move, if you don’t hurry it up. “Love is Misery” is a crooner, a crier; it’s a well-written song about a love gone wrong if ever there was one. “It was more that that and you took it away from me” – ouch! “Must Be Love” drips with a sexy sultriness. A hot little number about getting close to that ‘hot little number’ on the dance floor. “This is the Life” is a song about looking back to the good times with your best mate but also looking at where those “two punk kids” are now in life. The Velvet Underground is mentioned in the song, which made me grin from ear to ear. “Moonlight” is uniquely arranged instrumentally and Cogan’s lyrics are interesting too. The drum machine sounds are a little too mechanical for my taste, but that’s not the song’s focus here. The song that really stood out for me was “Figured It Out.” It’s a shady, smoky number that grooves deep and it sounds like something Tom Waits might have written. “We’re gonna bury our future while we drown our past.” The lyrics and song title conjured up in my mind a Bonnie and Clyde scenario. “I Swear It” sets a steady message about keeping your promises to the one by your side no matter how crappy life gets. Like the song “Moonlight” “Those Words” has an interesting arrangement and the effects on the instruments are sonically beautiful while the lyrics are deep and tender. “In the Dirt” is a somber wake up call about only getting one shot in life to make your mark on the world before you’re food for the worms. It’s a balls out, gutsy, no holds barred kind of song that really hits its message home. The last song “She Gotta Way” sounds to me like a guy who’s drunk and high and having psycho-stalker tendencies towards the girl who got away. It’s kind of funny but the way Cogan belts out the words really made me empathize with the psycho-drunk’s plight. Cogan sounds a little maniacal himself which adds to the song’s madness. Personally, I would have ended the album with “In the Dirt” and left this last number as a B-side. This is the Life is one hell of a good rocking album filled with passion, tenderness, conviction, strong lyrics and even stronger vocals, so I suspect we’ll be seeing more from Nick Cogan well into the future.
1 Comment
Amanda Pingleton
11/27/2017 10:56:58 am
This guy has definitely got some fire in his soul. Excited to see what the future holds.
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