Penny Park Review

I discovered "Penny Park" thanks to a review in our local paper. Truth be told, I kind of figured the writer had overstated his praise of the album. But I was intrigued by the concept, so I decided to check it out.

When I did, I was blown away. The writer was correct. This is an outstanding album.

The concept of this record is that the songs follow the theme of one summer in the old Peony Park amusement park in Omaha (the summer of 1989 in this case), and our narrator's obsession with a girl named Penny Park. It's a catchy blend of nostalgia, love, and fun, with enough variety between the 21 songs that it always feels fresh, all the way through the end of the record.

I'm a huge fan of the Beach Boys and Bruce Springsteen, and in a strange way, this feels like a mix between the two with a dose of Third Eye Blind thrown in. I'm not much of a music critic, but that's the best comparison I can make with my limited musical knowledge. I highly recommend this album, and I do not think its appeal is limited to only those from Omaha. I barely remember the park that the theme is drawn from, but I will be playing this album for years.