Poor Man's Son [Bonus Track]

1	Two Lost Angels 3:30
2	Cecilia 3:18
3	Something Crazy 3:40
4	Again 3:02
5	Beautiful Mistakes 4:01
6	Life on the Edge 4:02
7	Southwest Side 2:43
8	Cry Freedom 4:06
9	Class Act 4:26
10	Cold Hard Rain 4:58
11	Leave Me Alone 3:33
12	American Classic 4:46
13	Love and Hate 3:18
14	Bella Maria 3:02
15	Forever 17 4:00
16	Angel Park 3:43
17	Love, Soul, Rock N' Roll 4:37
18	Winds of Change 2:49
19	Class Act 4:22
20	Winds of Change

Barnes & Noble

This Las Vegas native puts a working-class Hispanic spin on the sort of genre-hopping mellow rock that has crept onto the charts in recent years, thanks to artists such as John Mayer and David Gray. Perez isn't quite as smooth around the edges as those gents, but he's got a bruised-romantic eloquence that will appeal their fans. That facet of his persona comes to light on "Something Crazy," a powerful tune about the powerlessness one can feel looking at an abusive relationship from the outside. He toughens up a bit -- but only a bit -- on "Class Act," a percolating, E Street Band–styled tune that reconfigures the classic Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story theme of doomed love with barrio aplomb. His Cuban roots, which are never far from the surface, really come to the fore on "Southwest Side," a soul-tinged slice of nostalgia that doesn't lose focus, even when it gets a bit misty. His backing band, the Highway Saints, could be a bit more assertive -- when they get cooking on the bluesy "Cold, Cold Rain," Perez responds with one of his more passionate deliveries -- but this young singer-songwriter's major-label bow establishes him as a singer, songwriter, and performer to be very closely watched. David Sprague

All Music Guide

For Las Vegas singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Franky Perez, it's a good thing the Latin music flame is burning dim. If his debut, Poor Man's Son, would have come out, say, four years previously, it would have automatically been buried in that genre, for no other reasons than his last name and the tinges of Cuban influence trickled throughout the CD. But now Poor Man's Son, which Perez recorded with his band the Highway Saints, stands the chance to shine. Perez's songwriting chops are up there with the underappreciated Jude Cole, especially in the opening track, "Two Lost Angels," and the first single, "Something Crazy." A tale of a woman who wishes to escape the horrors of domestic abuse and the man who longs to save her, "Something Crazy" is powerful -- "She says that she's afraid to leave/She says someday he's gonna kill me/'Cause when he's drunk he talks with his fists." Perez's songs are at once heartbreaking ("Something Crazy" and the ballad "Again," an urgent love song in which Perez begs for a second chance), political ("Cry Freedom," no relation to Bob Marley), angry ("Life on the Edge"), and downright sexy ("American Classic"). Perez drools over his "American Classic" in technicolor -- "It's the way she makes me guess/What she's wearing/Under that summer dress/It's the things she implies/In the roundabout way." The son of Cuban emigrants, Perez is clearly influenced by his heritage, as marked in "Southwest Side" and "Bella Maria." With Cuban music as a base, he successfully experiments with a buffet of tastes including sultry blues, roots rock, inoffensive '80s rock, and anthemic pop. In a nod to his love of early Stax and Elvis Presley records, he uses the Vincent Sisters and the Sweet Inspirations as backup vocalists. If there's a negative, it's that Poor Man's Son is a long project to tackle, with 18 songs. But Perez is rich with talent. ~ Christina Fuoco, All Music Guide

Blender

There's enough depth and insight to Franky Perez's songs to suggest old-dog wisdom. J.D. Considine