W&H AMERICANA ROUND-UP - JUNE '06 (Part 2)
‘Lady of Plenty’, opener from MARTHA BERNER's latest release “This Side of Yesterday” (Machine Records, 7/10), is an intriguing proposition: a two-chord strum arriving on a bed of tom tom / timpani mixed just low enough to provide a dramatic undertow fleshed out with a sweeping string part & some electro-sonic trickery on the second verse. Musically at least, Berner sets herself apart from the get go.
Hang around her voice for long enough though, and you can’t help but hear echoes of Cowboy Junkies' Margo Timmins (which is no bad thing intrinsically). 'Mary Lately', down to its plaintive, pretty melody reminiscent of 'Misguided Angel' is absolutely fine but verges on the workmanlike.
Unfortunately there’s a couple too many of these of run-of-the-mill singsongwriter numbers on first listen ('Poor Little Me', 'Fantastic Ordinary') to elevate “This Side of Yesterday” to essential listening, but the country bounce & bound of 'A Town Called Happiness' and sincere sentiment of 'Mother' (complete with neat atonal piano texturing) suggest a talent of real promise on the way to discovering a voice that will belong to nobody but her alone.
KATE YORK also incorporates (or tacks on) some electro-sonic-isms to several cuts on “Sadlylove” (Kate York, 5/10), but taps a songwriting seam closer to the Nashville mainstream than Martha Berner.
There’s a feeling of ‘pedigree’ about this album: experienced players, insider kudos, hard graft and experience. Nonetheless, after a couple of times through I can’t help but feel that “Sadlylove” adds up to less than the sum of its parts.
There’s no bite to this record, lyrically in particular. Sample Chorus: “I was so lost so lost without you / Now I’m so found so found now / You’re my wished for wished for song I sing” ('Wished for Song'). A grand sentiment sentiment, but bland as macaroni cheese.
Not that macaroni cheese isn’t comforting. One can imagine a time, place and person for 'Stay With Me'. It’s pretty and nice, but, unfortunately for all concerned, nice doesn’t always cut it.
Everything that’s not quite right about this record is encapsulated in the odd but anaemic cover of 'Boys Don’t Cry'. The Cure's pop classic is filleted by a tasteful arrangement and a vocal perfectly in tune and utterly passionless.
SAMANTHA MURPHY on the other hand, has one of those Lucinda-esque real-live-bleeding-fingers-and-broken-guitar-strings guts-on-sleeve voices. Not always the most pleasant sound perhaps, but refreshing all the same.
“Somewhere Between Starving & Stardom” (Samantha Murphy, 6/10), lyrically at any rate, seems to be rooted firmly in Murphy’s experiences as jobbing musician trying to make her way in the world. 'Christopher St' (which namechecks “Guinness with friends” !) and 'At the Laundr-O-Mat' have an undeniable charm, the latter benefiting from a catchy chorus, off kilter arrangement and very satisfying dirty guitar break.
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The thing of it is though, the songs are not always there. Few enough of these melodies catch in your head (or my head at least), the arrangements don’t always help and the killer lines resolutely refuse to jump out.
All that said, Murphy has produced a likeable record, which suggests the prospect of an engaging live performer. If she graduates from limbo to stardom anytime soon, this reviewer for one wouldn’t begrudge her…
Rounding off this belated second installment of the June round-up are THE LEGENDARY TRAINHOPPERS. If the names of the band and their latest release, "Ramble On" (Monkey Wings Records, 7/10), combined suggest old time folksy jigs & reels detailing the finer points of moonshine making & law evading well you’ll be disappointed by the opening numbers on this CD.
Assuming you’re into melodic coutry-tinged power pop you shouldn’t be disappointed for long though. 'I’m Not Waiting' has a four-on-the-floor plus harmonies chorus questioning everyone’s idea of the good old days. 'Cannonball' has a little lap steel near the beginning and a train in the chorus but also manages to reference a Paul Westerberg gig.
'Sleeping Pills' is drenched in flange and tells us ‘drugs are only good when they’re took’, a questionable message admittedly. 'C-Minor Skeleton Walk Blues' sounds like a Tom Waits cut too tame to make it on to an album, but finds salvation in a horn section that sounds, oddly enough, like Salvation Army band hijacked by a New Orleans funeral procession.
Ultimately, it’s the pleasing eccentricities creeping in at the edges that make “Ramble On” a worthwhile listen and the cream of this particular crop of Americana. That and the fact that it closes with a mandolin-led ditty entitled 'Don’t Let The Door Hitcha In The Backside (When You Walk Away)', as good a title as any to bring the curtain down on this month’s bulletin.
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