Justin Sawicki

Thunder Bay native and Hamilton, ON transplant Justin Sawicki's debut effort, Nothing for No One, offers something to someone, but that someone would have to be into cheesy balladry, with straight up bizarre lyrics ("I brush my teeth with vacant streets"). In fact, "One Day (The Music Stopped)" sounds almost like Frankie Goes to Hollywood and "What is Love?," which I wish would have been a Haddaway cover, sounds exactly like Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me." Between the ho-hum songwriting are some interesting jaunts into klezmer ("Forever and Always") and maudlin sounds ("Life in a Vampire's World"). Because this is Sawicki's first effort, and because his album couldn't be critiqued without at least conceding that it's a rather interesting musical project, it's not fair to pan it outright. He's hit a stride with Nothing for No One, for better or worse, and the album is interesting, in a deep-fried Kool-Aid sort of way.