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
NOBODYS DARLIN
Kitchen Girls
ERNESTO HERNANDEZ
West Off Bridge
JILL HENNESSY
Ghost in My Head
Various Artists
Sail Away-The Songs of Randy Newman
Son Volt
Okemah and the Melody of Riot
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass : Tribute to 1946 and 1947
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