Tom Ciurczak - YORICK (2025)

This project is the Hudson Valley, NY-native Tom Ciurczak’s latest (pronounced Sir-Zak) album of original songs since 2020. Tom (vocals) has tunes that are primarily alternative country & heartland rock influenced by a cross-section of giants such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Warren Zevon, Steve Earle & the more progressive rock stylings of Peter Gabriel.

Tom Ciurczak’s music is primarily storytelling with strong rhythms & creative material that covers themes that include a quasi-science fiction tale of an abandoned alien, a man bored & becomes a mercenary, a private eye & master of disguise, someone involved in the heroin trade who is a C.I.A. operative, the homeless, growing up with mental illness, the Ukrainian war & friends who didn’t survive their youth. Challenging? Sometimes as heavy as Kelsy’s burgers with sautéed onions. Delicious though, right? Some are heavy-duty subjects — not often found in rock music. It’s gutsy.

Now working from the West Coast, Tom has 10 musical deliveries on Yorick produced by Stephen Haaker (drums/percussion) & Brett Grossman in Hollywood, CA. So, this white-haired, denim-adorned & shaded musician with his gritty voice opens with “The Watcher.” Flexing his R&R muscles impressively, Tom doesn’t sound like an older man; he sounds like the older kid on the block with musical experience.

Tom’s not Neil Young whiney, Jim Morrison sexy, John Lennon-biting, or John Kay dangerous. He does have Bruce Springsteen energy, but Tom waxes & shines his original tunes. “Wild One” is rooted in a ‘50s Del Shannon aesthetic with a pinch of Dion swag & wait for it – the Ramones. Yeah. This is spring-loaded with infectious double-fisted guitars. Wonderful stuff. So, he doesn’t have the rockabilly thrust of a Robert Gordon, so what? He gets a little more poetic with the slower “Yorick.” Not as gripping as the others. No matter. I’m not convinced that ballads are Tom’s forte. Maybe, just maybe, this would be more gripping as a purely acoustic rendering by Tom.

“You’re Next” has a good arrangement. But does come across a bit bombastic in the performance, whereas “Where Do I Belong” arrives with the melodic rock that once was the domain of an ‘80s San Francisco band Eddie & The Tide (“What Love Is All About,” “This Could Be The One”). This tune is a good Tom rocker like those. The concluding songs have their mainstream merit, but they’re for selective tastes. Tom’s the last of a dying breed. But he’s an artist.