Asaf Avidan and The Mojos
Poor Boy / Lucky Man

THE REVIEW

The Israeli musician Asaf Avidan has built a national reputation and is gradually making his way beyond the borders of his country, primarily thanks to his distinctly unique voice, described by critics as a mix between the soul of Janis Joplin, the tones of Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and the eclectic approach of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (The Mars Volta).

"Poor Boy / Lucky man" is a concept album with the main theme being the story of a boy born with a hole in place of his heart, questioning whether this fact represents an advantage or a disadvantage for this individual, who can be seen as "lucky" or as an unfortunate poor fellow.

Musically, folk reigns supreme: acoustic guitars with a Neil Young flavor are enriched by Asaf's unique vocal approach and beautiful string sessions.
The album is like a journey with a climax that rises increasingly, bringing the delicate folk of the dreamy introductory "Brickman" and the very American "Poor Boy" to the Beatles-esque sounds of the White Album (Got It Right) and to blatantly 70s prog citations (The ghost of a thousand little lies).

The album, despite these more progressive and experimental outlets, had more or less settled on a bed of folk rock, so it is with great surprise that "Wasting My Time" literally splits the work in half with its raw rock and roll, worthy of the early Led Zeppelin, followed swiftly by "Jet Plane" and "Little Stallion", with a vaguely Kinks flavor.

After this central rock section, the album returns to delicate folk, but with a quite different approach from the beginning: there's decidedly less of a nostalgic vein and everything has a decidedly more modern taste, and in some cases, more melancholic and introspective, up until the closing with "Latest Sin".

This album might have the flaw of being a bit too long for my tastes, but Asaf Avidan is an excellent epigone of the folk and rock that characterized the late 60s and the first half of the 70s, definitely rehashing these influences with a very personal and original approach.
It's definitely worth delving into for all lovers of artists like Neil Young, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, or King Crimson, who are subtly referenced in this album.