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 RuthYael Naim and David Donatien
Yael Naim
JOHN DRISKELL HOPKINS AND BALSAM RANGE
Daylight
Holly Williams
The Ones We Never Knew
Pete's Posse
The Conversation
BRANDI CARLILE
Give up the Ghost
BOOKA AND THE FLAMING GECKOS
Baghdad Texas
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