Donna Ruth Duggan Lile
October 2, 2012
Chabert hit with added cuts and job losses
October 5, 2012
There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of strong women doing their thing. This is so in most fields of endeavor, most assuredly in music. Glass ceilings and condescension are still all too common, but if the not-so-good-old boys of Augusta can admit women, can other barriers’ demise be far behind?
Whether fronting otherwise all-male, mixed-gender or all-girl bands, or performing solo under their own names or pseudonyms, women musicians are literally everywhere. What used to be the exception is now the welcome rule. And while there’s no one (of either sex) bigger than Adele, Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift, there are many more newcomers and veterans worthy of attention. Here are three.
LIANNE LA HAVAS is a 22-year-old Brit with gobs of talent and promise. She plays guitar and wrote or co-wrote all the songs on her first proper full-length record, “IS YOUR LOVE BIG ENOUGH?” Her writing partner, Matt Hales (aka Aqualung), produces with a very spare touch. Havas’ electric guitar is the constant companion, along with her multi-tracked backing vocals. Bass and drums are only occasional presences, but are extremely effective when featured.
Easy comparisons to Corinne Bailey Ray or Adele are misleading if not wrong. Yes, she’s got her heart on her sleeve and speaks nakedly about her wrenching break-up(s), but she’s got her own voice and way with words. What comes through more than anything is her honesty. She’s not wallowing or getting maudlin while she turns the devastating phrase on her gone mate – her tunes let you know she’s got her eye on the next adventure, if not great love.
“Don’t Wake Me Up” opens things up with an all-Havas chorus singing a cappella to thrilling effect. Threats of a transition to a balls-out raver are quashed immediately when a loping and confident pace kicks in. She’s still in a love affair here – the title’s request is to stay in the dream-like fragile state of happiness. The title cut follows, and thankfully there are no overt double entendres to be heard. Instead, we get the album’s biggest arrangement and widest grasp. She wants to know if that other’s love’s big enough to encompass all the good and bad inherent in the budding relationship. Her wailing chorus gets close to gospel shivers and underscores her challenge: State your intentions, let me know you’re solid about me, about us. The song’s tenor leaves little room for any other response but, “Hell yes!”
By placing “Lost and Found” next in line, she gives us the autopsy report: “You broke me and taught me to truly hate myself.” As sad and bleak as that sounds, my earlier description of a no-moping policy holds true. Survival and another shot at happiness are her fate. “No Room for Doubt” is a duet with Willy Mason and lets us in on the hard work of introspection that makes such survival possible. “Forget” comes in with razor-wire rhythm guitar and segues into sly rock ‘n’ soul with an ecstatic Middle Eastern-inspired chorus. Produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, it’s a lively direction she ought to explore further.
The second half’s pleasures are not as plentiful, but “Elusive” has an insouciance and a backbeat that are irresistible. “They Could Be Wrong” is another outlier on this record with its shuffling, skittering beat, and again is most promising for her future – a future as bright as the light in those big brown eyes.
AMANDA PALMER makes one hell of an impression, what some more … stodgy … politicians might even call “unladylike” or deign to call a “wildcat.” She would no doubt relish such descriptions. She spent a few years in the theatrically-inclined Dresden Dolls, and even more years toiling in the actual theater, and now her third record is out and it’s called “THEATRE IS EVIL.” It’s not a polemic against her past vocation – it’s so much more.
How could it be a screed against the theater, when the entire album is shot through with flourishes, with peaks and valleys of emotion that can leave the listener exhilarated, if not exhausted? She raised over $1.2 million from her entreaties on Kickstarter (a site designed to help such artists with seed money), and she’s repaid her faithful in spades by cramming multitudes into this 15-song footlocker of a record.
Her specialty is roiling pop tunes, seasoned liberally with swarming synths and snarling guitars, and lyrics that shock, stun and ultimately impress with an honesty (a recurring theme) that’s either genuine or faked – as only an accomplished actress could pull off. “Smile (Pictures or It Didn’t Happen)” is its own overstuffed portmanteau of a song, full of all the goodies I mentioned above; sort of an overture, if you will. “The Killing Type” channels mid-80s MTV with chirping lyrics about homicide and the guilty pleasures it brings (when properly justified, of course); “Do It With a Rockstar” is as debauched as you fear/hope it might be, and its swaggering come-on is really funny once you spot the tongue implanted in her cheek. The record is full of other highlights, too. “Grown Man Cry” is savagely explicit in its takedown of emo types who have ulterior motives.
After an “Intermission,” the tough riffs and pounding cadence of “Lost” shake off any hangover from the first half. “Bottomfeeder” is as close to vulnerability as she gets, and that’s not that sensitive at all. She channels the piano-driven sturm und drang of Tori Amos on “Bed Song,” but thankfully never sinks into melodrama. “Massachusetts Avenue” is another hook-filled barnburner, leading into the spiky new wave of “Melody Dean” and cabaret dynamics of “Berlin.” “Olly Olly Oxen Free” is a smashing conclusion to a head-spinning program. Not for the faint-hearted or those with tender sensibilities, but the thrill seekers should make a beeline.
The CORIN TUCKER BAND is Ms. Tucker’s second solo effort after the split of her scorched-earth band, Sleater-Kinney (which featured Portlandia’s and Wild Flag’s cool-chick, Carrie Brownstein). The new one’s called “KILL MY BLUES,” and it’s as feisty as it sounds.
To the question, Can a middle-aged (40) still rock as hard as she ever did?, Tucker could simply offer this record as evidence – case closed.
This is as kick-ass as anything she did before, albeit with tighter accompaniment and different lyrical concerns. Her sometimes-caterwauling yelping is still intact but she keeps it under wraps and mixes its dynamic range just enough to keep things from getting grating. Her songs don’t follow tired pathways, and instead are chock full of rhythmic and harmonic surprises.
Hence, I recommend this heartily to those still inclined to rock – with a feeling that comes from a more matured heart. The outstanding cuts are clustered in the beginning, the merely great follow.
– Dave Norman is a local attorney who has written or participated in various critiquing endeavors in the past (movies, restaurants) but who believes now has found his real niche as a music critic. In his opinion.
Lianne La Havas’ future is “as bright as the light in those big brown eyes,” columnist Dave Norman writes. La Havas, Amanda Palmer and Corin Tucker are three women rockers who are flying under the radar and representing the influx of female musicians.
Lianne La Havas – “Is Your Love Big Enough?”
Amanda Palmer – “Theatre is Evil”
Corin Tucker Band – “Kill My Blues”
