Company You Keep - John Gorka

For the most part, Gorka offers low-energy singer/songwriter folk with shades of adult contemporary rock on The Company You Keep. Weary nostalgia dominates his introspective, observational lyrics. Whether it's first person or second person, the material muses over lost chances and making the best of things without offering any easy solutions, with a complacent though not self-satisfied attitude. Matters are livened, slightly, by the Bob Dylan-like organ of "Oh Abraham," and a variety of female harmony vocalists, including Mary Chapin Carpenter and Ani DiFranco. When he kicks out the jams, relatively speaking, for the odd up-tempo tune like the bar-band-rollicking "Joint of No Return," or "Around the House" (which sounds somewhat like Tom Rush does when he decides to rock out), the sudden jolt of octane is downright shocking. "People My Age" and the country-flavored "Hank Senior Moment" flash glimpses of a nasty edge largely absent from the other compositions. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide