Eat My Dust

Maryland-based singer/songwriter/producer Kowtow Popof appears on the Wampus Records tributes to Lou Reed and Jonathan Richman with "Satellite of Love" and "Lonely Financial Zone," respectively, a nice way to help expose a relatively unknown veteran artist these days. On his third CD from 1999, Eat My Dust, he brings in an interesting blend of Neil Young meets Robyn Hitchcock, especially on the final track, "Well Again." And speaking of Hitchcock, the artist is ably assisted by Hitchcock Blonde's Rob Santos on lead and rhythm electric guitars with Janna Audey from that group adding some backing vocals to "Hit Record" and "At the Bottom of the Sea." "Hit Record" isn't, but it rocks better than Dire Straits and would be more fun on the radio than that band's "Sultans of Swing." He's got some Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello in him, too, but needs a little more distinction to get a musical identity as creative as his name. "At the Bottom of the Sea" is nice, kind of like a sequel to Neil Young's "Down by the River" with Donovan on lyrics. It's very pretty and one of the CD's best performances. Though clever at times — on the back cover sitting under a dinosaur like one that graces the front of the CD, the lyrics spread across a desolate Stardust Motel black-and-white photo in the six-page booklet — a sameness permeates the recording. It is one thing for an Emitt Rhodes, Paul McCartney, or Todd Rundgren to play all the instruments, those pop legends coming close but not always able to escape the redundant aspect of not having contributors. He sings "You sound like a broken CD/Skipping over the melody" and "Kick me if I fall asleep on take 54," and it's pretty funny because these lyrics reflect the flaws on some of this record, stark self-parody that might not have been intended. "Not for Radio" has an odd break that utilizes part of Gary Numan's song "Cars" while "You Won't Miss Me" fares better, a hooky strumming pop tune showing that he does have the ability to do a fine job treading ground walked many times before by more popular artists. "Time Is Alive" shows much more promise, though, and an album with songs heading in this direction would do much to help Kowtow Popof forge his own identity. Until he does, he risks remaining the subject matter as well as the singer of his composition "Hit Record."