There are two ways to tell the story of Tyler Ballgame. On one hand, the release of this debut already reads like an improbable tale of ascent and reinvention: Tyler Perry leaving behind his mother’s basement, his past as a covers-band singer and his struggles with depression to begin anew in Los Angeles. There, he adopts the stage persona Tyler Ballgame, quickly generates excitement on the open-mic circuit and, with only a handful of performances and songs, triggers genuine hype. On the other hand, For The First Time, Again – particularly in the wake of the unexpected success of Cameron Winter and his band Geese – could also be read, from an industry perspective, as a carefully curated, strategically positioned trend product.
Like Winter, Ballgame possesses a strikingly unusual voice, one whose theatrical flamboyance is precisely what gives it emotional force. However demanding the vocals may be at times, the warm analogue sound proves all the more accessible and inviting, rooted firmly in 1970s classic rock. It is therefore fitting that Jonathan Rado – who has shaped a similar aesthetic with his own band Foxygen and in his work with The Lemon Twigs – was at the controls. Just as ambivalent as Ballgame’s rise may appear, so too is the album itself: it oscillates somewhat unevenly between genuinely individual expression and overt homage, as if Roy Orbison were singing with the Eagles, or John Lennon fronting Creedence Clearwater Revival.
