The Great Unknowns
Presenting The Great Unknowns
We read about this disc in
MilesofMusic and then chanced upon it in the used
bins of our favorite local CD shop,
Albums On The Hill
in Boulder, Colorado (we're not all from Texas here).
Released in 2004 by
Daemon Records, "Presenting The Great Unknowns" is
the first release by this band as an entity.
Man, it's good. Especially if you
like the kind of music you hear from Lucinda Williams
or Mary Gauthier. Or Lone Justice. Which I do.
I can't figure out why someone would sell this one
back.
Lead singer and songwriter, Becky
Warren, knows what she's doing. Her voice has
that edge which forces the comparisons with Williams
and Gauthier. It's rock-and-roll strong where it
needs to be and sweetly mellow on the quieter songs.
Michael Palmer shares songwriting duties
with Warren and plays guitar as well. Other bandmembers are
Andy Eggers (drums, mandolin, backing vocals) and Altay Guvench (bass). The band
gets some help from Scott Roy (banjo, accordion,
backing vocals; Tyler Wood (organ); Pierce Woodward
(banjo); Gian Pangaro (dobro); and Whitney Retallic,
Noam Weinstein, Tim Blane, Judy Scott-Clayton, Rose
Polenzani on backing vocals.
On some tracks, the guitar has a twangy 70's Southern rock kind of feel
- the bass line on "When I Was Your Girl" is reminiscent of "Sweet Home
Alabama" but the overall effect is more Lucinda
Williams than Lynyrd Skynyrd. The tone, the
instrumentation, the voice, the attitude reek of bitter
nostalgia and sarcasm.
The music got my
attention first but then I started listening to the
lyrics. And these guys can do that too.
The break up songs are
the best. And they're mostly break up songs on
this disc. That makes for better music - don't
ask me why.
"Something To Do" tells
that oh-so-familiar heartbreaking story of a girl who
recognizes that she's "just something to pass the
time when you feel blue/Just something to do."
In a very catchy way.
"1000 Miles From
Tennessee" is a fast-paced declaration of emotional
independence.
"But I won't dial your line again cuz it's always
you on the other end / And I've heard everything you
have to say before." Ha. Take that.
The last song, "We'll Be
Okay," is a wistful attempt at starting over with a
broken relationship. The tone is hopeful yet
defeated. A break up song in disguise.
According to bass player
Guvench, the Great Unknowns currently are spread
out along the Eastern Coast but a new disc is in the
works. Just don't know when.
-naomi
SiteMap
last updated 10/25/05
©
Copyright 2005
SlackerCountry.Com
All Rights Reserved
