Michael Penn, Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 - 38m 34s

Tracks & Durations

1. Walter Reed	3:42
2. Denton Road	3:24
3. Room 712, The Apache	3:27
4. Pretending	3:20
5. The Transistor	1:24
6. Mary Lynn	3:08
7. 18 September	1:31
8. The Television Set Waltz	1:01
9. You Know How	4:28
10. A Bad Sign	3:28
11. O.K.	2:50
12. On Automatic	2:53
13. (P.S.) Millionaire	3:48

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Review

Los Angeles troubadour Michael Penn offers a compelling argument here that personal obsessions can often be a songwriter's most compelling muse. An intriguing concept album that revolves around Penn's introspective take on the brave new world of post-WW II America as channeled by the thoughts of its protagonists, Mr. Hollywood makes little effort at recreating the era's musical aura. Instead Penn details his retro-L.A. landscape via the emotional states of his song cycle's rich cast of characters (which includes the bewildered returning vet of "Walter Reed" and the shadowy film-noir protagonist of "Room 715, The Apache"), a gambit that effectively bridges the decades: Their pensiveness and wistful anxiety seem all too contemporary. The era's technical/historical landmarks are noted by such brief, impressionistic sound pastiches as "The Transistor," "18 September" (the date the National Security Act was established) and the jaunty "Television Set Waltz." Penn's stately, melancholy way with a ballad forms a firm foundation, yet the album's two-part structural conceit (which replicates LP sides) and such adventurous fare as the hypnotic, ethnically indeterminate dirge "Mary Lynn," "Bad Sign"'s lush pop-blues and the jangly, cautious optimism of "On Automatic" insure it never rests on nostalgia or the merely familiar. --Jerry McCulleyA new ALBUM PRESENTS 12 NEW SONGS SET AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF POST-WWII AMERICA Michael Penn is fascinated with the year 1947. "In so many of my interests and wherever they take me, that year keeps cropping up." On his new record Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947, Penn weaves historical, political and social events and themes into 12 meticulously crafted songs that tell a series of inter-connected stories of human relationships and romance set against the backdrop of post-World War II America. Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 paints a picture of a Los Angeles that doesn't exist anymore. "When I was writing these songs I found that I was placing myself, people, places and events into a different world. I knew what it was. I recognized it. It was America in 1947," says Penn. "The events set in motion that year were resonating for me more than ever. Some of it was just little things. The Department of War got a name change. The National Security Act was passed and the C.I.A. was formed. It was the year of the U.N. Partition and the invention of the transistor. The point is, this isn't what the record's about, but it's the sepia it occupies." On the self-produced album, Penn is joined by many longtime collaborators, including Patrick Warren (keyboards), Aimee Mann (background vocals and bass) and former member of L.A. cult band The Grays, Buddy Judge (harmony vocals). Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 will be released on Penn's Mimeograph Records via spinART Records on August 2, 2005.

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