Dan Bryk is a Canadian singer/songwriter with a voice that is reminiscent of Jeff Tweedy and whose sound suggests a power-pop Eels (with occasional flashes of Ben Folds Five and the Flaming Lips). But those comparisons are just touchstones for a promising artist whose debut album, Lover's Leap, is truly exceptional. Bryk rocks out pretty hard for a piano player (he's also in the American Flag, a band noted for lo-fi arena rock in the same vein as Guided By Voices), but you can tell that beneath his bombast is a Burt Bacharach/Randy Newman fanatic. His songwriting is of a caliber to support such a comparison, and his ballads in particular are stunning enough to make conversation stop.

Occasionally, his voice struggles on the more demanding tunes -- higher registers are not Bryk's friend -- but these melodies are so winning that you don't mind.

--Amir Hijazi: CMJ New Music Report Issue: 685 - Oct 2, 2000