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 Ruth
ZOE BOEKBINDER
Darling Specimens
TEDDY THOMPSON
Upfront & Down Low
Various Artists
Signature Sounds: 10th Anniversary Collection
THE DIXIE BEE-LINERS
Ripe
Emmylou Harris
Stumble into Grace
CAT POWER
The Greatest
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.