Lethbridge Herald

Singing ability alien to X-Filer Duchovny

- Reviewed by Mark Kennedy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

David Duchovny, “Every Third Thought” (King Baby/GMG)

In an upcoming episode of “The X-Files,” Fox Mulder gets mixed up with some paranormal forces and somehow believes he’s a rock ‘n’ roll god. No, wait. That’s not a TV show. It’s apparently real life for David Duchovny.

Duchovny ditches his day job chasing aliens on television to release his 12-track sophomore effort, “Every Third Thought,” an album of pretty good rock songs marred by perhaps the worst vocal performanc­es ever captured digitally.

This album is like listening to the tired and tipsy stragglers of an office party ending up at a karaoke bar at 3 a.m. when that weird dude from accounts payable grabs the mic to live out his rock dreams in a beer-induced semi-coma.

Duchovny has a horrifical­ly thin voice, unable to modulate, unable to show any emotion, unable to hold a note. It doesn’t go up or down. It just sits there croaking like a dying frog. He hasn’t improved since his debut 2015 album, “Hell or Highwater,” which we gave him a pass on because, hey, everyone makes mistakes.

But the second one is a blemish on a really good band, including multiinstr­umentalist­s Colin Lee, Pat McCusker and Mitchell Stewart — who also serve as the producers — and Sebastian Modak on drums. They deserve better. Forget the truth: a true vocalist is out there, guys.

Duchovny’s lyrics seem designed to either make nerdy folks swoon with references to ancient Rome and science — “Matter decays exponentia­lly/ Half-lives await us all eventually” — or make them wince (“I’ll slap the cuffs on the hands of time” and “When it comes to bliss, I’m a communist”).

In “‘Mo,” he has the gall to criticize our insatiable hunger for everything, from cars to love: “Everybody always wants the cream at the top/ But nobody knows when to stop.”

Credit to Duchovny for cowriting all the songs, which range from the Tom Petty-ish title romp to the brassy footstompe­r “Someone Else’s Girl.” The band’s rock chops drive “When the Whistle Blows” and “Roman Coin,” but the guy in front is so bad you start to laugh.

Is it clear yet? Dude. Can’t. Sing. Make him stop.

Send in the aliens.

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