A little known "super group" of powerpop icons, The Grays had extraordinary potential. Their one and only record, "Ro-Sham-Bo" from 1994 remains one of my favorites from the decade. The Grays consisted of Jason Falkner, Jon Brion, Buddy Judge, and Dan McCarroll. Filled with a crunchy rockers, melancholy ballads, and playful powerpop tunes, the record is like Chex-Mix. Everything is different, but somehow it all tastes right together. "Very Best Years" is in the crunchy rocker category and still amazes me that it failed to catapult the band to stardom. Falkner and Brion went on to reasonably successful solo careers, the latter scoring several popular films.
Jason Falkner comes from a long line of underrated bands, from The Three O'Clock to Jellyfish to The Grays. Sadly, this extremely talented singer/songwriter never took off as a solo artist either. His first solo effort, "Presents Author Unknown," arrived in 1996 and remains one of my favorite records by him. "Miss Understanding" is just one of many catchy standout tracks. Falkner has also done a wonderful instrumental series called "Bedtime With The Beatles" if you ever need a soothing lullaby.
