JEREMY GLOFF PRESS ARCHIVE
Chautauqua County Word
Published in 2003

Chautauqua County native Jeremy Gloff has released 12 independent albums since 1993. His most recent, Romantico, arrived in the WORD's mail-box this week. Gloff has experienced moderate success in the music industry since he made his move to Tampa Bay in the early 1990s. He's been voted "Best of the Bay" twice and claims to have been one of the 50 best unsigned acts at the CMJ/American Music Awards New Music Awards. (The official web site for this event only lists 40 contestants, none of which were Gloff.)  Gloff's bio says, "While his music was originally conceptualized to confront and conquer the loneliness of upper New York State teenaged life,  Jeremy has since been able to build a unique blend of young, underground confrontationalism with an ear for 80's rock-n-roll melody."  

I have to admit that I only heard of  Jeremy Gloff when he emailed me asking me to review his album. I've never heard any of his work other than the CD he sent me, Romantico.  I was a bit reserved about even listening to Romantico. I haven't had good success with people sending me their music to review. Though I've panned thugs like 50-Cent, giving less than good reviews to independent musicians is the only writing I ve done to bring me threats. Both my Jackson Rohm and Robert DiMaio reviews resulted in defensive emails from the artists. I felt really bad about Jackson. He's actually a nice guy. His stuff just isn't for me.   But, DiMaio got downright nasty with me--which I find funny because I really held back the punches in my review of his album.  If people don't want an honest review, why would they ask me to do one in the WORD? Should I lie just to make people feel better about their albums simply because they're independent musicians? Sorry, but we don't play that way here. Besides, Gloff's album Romantico is too funny for me to worry about any of this. The followingis my honest, no punches pulled review. 

Doo-wop-ish piano riffs cavort around with Gloff's cartoon character voice, all the while playfully butchering the genre of pop-rock. I'm serious when I say that Gloff's singing voice remindsme of the munchkins from The Wizard of Oz. I'm really not trying to be cruel here, merely honest. Possibly he's damaged his vocal chords with helium intake. Speculation aside, Gloff's voice irritated me greatly and I can't describe it much better than high pitched back of the throat complaining.  "Wishing I had a pussy so I could hold you. It's the only little secret that I never told you," Gloff sings on "Overthinking," embracing his reoccurring theme of being a lesbian in a man's body. "If you met a girl like me you'd probably wet your pants. The over-analyzation of nonexistent circumstance.  Lyrics like these might be imbecilic or at best underdeveloped, but completely compliment the photograph of Gloff on Romantico's back cover wearing a "Made for Loving Him" t-shirt.  The best song on the album is the track, "Lovesong for a Stranger," which is comprised of a lovely piano part and a sweet vocal harmony. Still, the song is short, odd and Gloff's voice distracts the listener.  Gloff describes himself as "a cross between Stevie Nicks, Tori Amos and Prince." I don't see that at all. His genre on Romantico doesn't come close to those three artists. His production is simple and lo-fi. His songwriting is creepy and might be the closest thing I've ever heard to homosexual country music. Personally, I'd describe him as a Ben Folds wanna-be, hopped up on the synergy of heroin and helium. Yeah I  bet I get an email over this one.