Out of nowhere comes Edward OConnell with one the the best albums of the year, Our Little Secret. Equal parts Elvis Costello and Tom Petty, OConnell has managed to meld the two influences into his very own sound, not too derivative of either. Acres of Diamonds starts the disc off to a rip roaring start but the coup de grace is the fourth cut on the album, Happy Black. My sole criticism of the disc is that its all at roughly the same tempo throughout, but I'm willing to deal with that one shortcoming in exchange for this collection of brilliant pop tunes crafted like they used to back in the day when guitars jangled and we still wanted that irresistible pop hook. Rates as...BUY IT...NOW!
