2009-08-08
This is the second album from the San Francisco seven-piece outfit, Or, the Whale. I find it to be a bit more "countryfied" than their first album, "Light Poles and Pines". This album of sometimes rocking, folk-country does have some good things to offer, such as nice production and vocal harmonies. Besides your basic guitar, drums, and vocals, Or, the Whale's brand of Americana also features dobro, pedal steel guitar and banjo. Most of the songs here are somewhat Starland Vocal Band-sounding in their country-pop harmonies. The more rocking songs are the album opener, "No Love Blues", the haunting "Keep Me Up", and the Jefferson Airplane-ish "Black Rabbit". Rebecca RuthBROTHER ADAMS
Almost Alive at Front Street
MISSY HIGGINS
The Ol' Razzle Dazzle
Tomo Nakayama
Fog on the Lens
Eddi Reader
Sings the Songs of Robert Burns
BOW THAYER
Spend It All
BOOKA AND THE FLAMING GECKOS
The Not So Meaningful Songs in the Life of Jeremy Fink
The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.