Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter

The amazing atmospherics of “Like Love Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul” are apparent from the outset of the album. The ambience of the album is due as much to the subdued jazzy vocals of Jesse Sykes as it is to the instrumentation. At times, Sykes sounds like a more throaty Billie Holiday. At other times, her voice has a Grace Slick tone. The album's first three songs set the tone. It starts with the slow acoustic melody and eerie harmonica of “Eisenhower Moon.” “LLL” is a more upbeat tune that has Sykes smoky Blues vocals layered with psychedelic overdubs. “You Might Walk Away” has catchy hooks and is great pop tune with Jazzy keyboards in the backgrounds.

Sykes aforementioned Grace Slick on a mellow trip sound is most apparent on a couple of songs that take on the feel of Jefferson Airplane. The Sixties era Haight-Ashbury scene is explored most notably on “How Will We Know” and “I Like the Sound.” These are not banal tributes. The band never loses its originality as it crosses genres. To be sure, the atmospherics are overdone at times. For example, on “Spectral Beings” a droning melody is trying too hard to create the ambiance. However, the best songs on this album are truly memorable. The production team of Tucker Martine (The Decemberists and Long Winters) and Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan and Kings of Leon) also deserve kudos for the way they created the album’s rich textures without masking the music at its core.

Link to this free MP3

*Posted with Permission from Barsuk Records

http://barsukmusic.blaireau.net/JesseSykes_LLL.mp3

This review also appears on: http://twangville.com

Rocky Votolato - "The Brag & Cuss"

Rocky Votolato has come full circle. Prior to going solo he was in a post-punk/emo band called Waxwing. On his new album Brag & Cuss, set to be released on June 19th by Barsuk, the influences of his Texas childhood are more apparent. Votolato was born in and spent his early childhood in rural Texas. His father was a member of a motorcycle gang called the Scorpions, who at the time were rivals of Hell’s Angels. The songs on Brag and Cuss involve characters that could just as easily appear in the songs of fellow Texans like Guy Clark, Joe Ely or Robert Earl Keen. Lyrically the songs could also easily fit in a Texas roadhouse. Musically though instead of roadhouse rockers the songs on Brag and Cuss are well crafted low to mid-tempo songs that mix his Texas influences with a mature singer-songwriter style.

The connection Votolato feels to his own personal history show lyrically as in “Red Dragon Wishes” where the protagonist laments “There’s some demon way down South some kind of confederate ghost. It holds me close and shows me where to go until I’m sure I’m lost…but some mistakes can’t be undone it’ll never be like it was and wishing for it only makes it worse.” Votolato hooked up with a group of talented friends on this album. Brag and Cuss features James McAlister (Sufjan Stevens) on drums, Bill Herzog (Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) on bass, Case Foubert (Pedro the Lion) on Electric Guitar and Rick Steff (Hank Williams Jr.) on Hammond B3 and keyboards. The result is a collection of songs that together make a unified body of work.

http://barsukmusic.blaireau.net/RockyVotolato_PostcardFromKentucky.mp3

I originally published this review on: http://twangville.com/