Sometimes these peculiar little touches don't work. The two most obvious examples of this are "John" and "Punks Outside the Secret Police." The first of these is a rather monotonous tribute to the late John Lennon. The music seems a little incessant while the lyrics - "I wanna be like John/whatever planet he is on/I can't believe that he is gone" - come across as being more simple than simplistically clever.
"Punks Outside the Secret Police" is even worse. With a quasi hip-hop beat and voice distortion for White's vocals, the cause seems lost even before it is begun. And, unfortunately, another monotonous Andy White tune only confirms that this is the case.
These two songs are very much the (unusual) exceptions, because on the rest of Destination Beautiful not only are the melodies so enjoyable, but the little peculiarities present in each track are very well thought out. Whether it is the cool irregular guitar riff in "Thinking of Change," the two bridges in Many's the Time (co-written with Tim Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House and Liam O'Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers) or the Italian tinged "Ciao Baby," such quirks deliver a unique feeling of delight to the listener.
And, in the end, this is why this is a well written album. The music is catchy, albeit distinctive. Certainly the two bad songs are regrettable because, in light of the talent Andy White demonstrates, they seem so unnecessary and preventable. Yet, these aberrations aside, Destination Beautiful is a collection of very good pop songs.
RATING: 8/10
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