Fernando – Enter To Exit

Born in Argentina and raised in the SoCal Mexican barrio of Pacoima, Fernando Viciconte fronted hard-rockers Monkey Paw before relocating to Portland, Oregon, in 1994. His sixth disc (and first in five years) finds the singer-songwriter backed by an accomplished outfit including Chet Lyster and Derek Brown of the Eels and Paul Brainard of Richmond Fontaine. Enter To Exit leaps out of the gate with “Howard Hughes”, a propulsive rocker that inhabits Dwight Twilley turf, but for the bulk of the record, Fernando’s “default” voice traces John Lennon’s with such unaffected naturalness that the substantial emotional freight invested in these largely Beatlesque pop nuggets (from jaunty to lush to achingly spare) resounds with stunning immediacy. Utterly beautiful and convincing.