Kate Jacobs

You Call That Dark

2004-05-06

If Iris Dement worked with Yo La Tengo, you’d probably get music that’s sweetly voiced, ethereally recorded, sensibly country and slightly bitter. Or maybe you’d have a Kate Jacobs record.

Kate, along with career collaborator and former Yo La Tengo guitarist Dave Schramm, lovingly paints sympathetic character portraits of the down-trodden in America. In “What a World, What a God”, an old immigrant confuses the word “pain” with the word “cash” and refuses medical treatment thinking his doctors are trying to rob him blind (but aren’t they?). Dreams quietly die in “Pete's Gonna Sell” and “Helen Has a House”. “Tall Buildings” go up, yet the city goes downhill.

Kate makes a vain attempt to balance these maladies by instilling dreams and beauty in the life of her child in “Life Can Be Sweet”. Puzzle over the remaining lyrics as much as you'd like.

Sonically…it’s swirling country music augmented by Schramm’s numerous instrumental contributions.
We Call This Great.

Quick Links:

More reviews tagged #Folk

  • reviewed 11/2016

    Aaron Lee Tasjan
    Silver Tears

  • reviewed 10/2004

    Buddy Miller
    Universal United House of Prayer

  • reviewed 09/2006

    BEN AND BRUNO
    My Mother's Hand

  • reviewed 01/2014

    Grace and Tony
    November

  • reviewed 12/2003

    Original Soundtrack
    Cold Mountain

  • reviewed 03/2017

    RY TAYLOR
    TAKE OUT YOUR TONGUE

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

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.