Album Review: James McCann - Dignity

Comedian James McCann has a wild and unwound character to his voice, giving his observations on everyday life a sense of freshness and incredulity. Consisting of some great puns, “delicate reflections about what it is to be,” some pretty smart wordplay and a lesson on the Native Americans' historical ties to moccasins, Dignity is an album brimming with ideas.

But then there's also some tired, rote stuff that leans too heavily on existentialist clichés and a few occasions that see McCann telling a story in which you can too obviously tell the truth from the exaggeration. Though some of his jokes sag and don't feel written all the way through, he does try some pretty great stuff. Just when you think he's lost the audience, an erudite turn of phrase deftly scoops his trailing exposition back up to great heights.

The latter half of the album is bolstered by an incredible story about crappy drama productions, and one in particular that was set inexplicably to Queen, about a cast of witches and nurses, repeatedly missing beats to match lyrically appropriate songs to their best comedic moments.

The stuff that doesn't work, he steers away from quickly enough, padding his misfires with choicer cuts, longer stories, smarter turns of phrase. The stuff that does work, works strong and hard. Dignity is an album of great promise and solid delivery.