This is the debut album by Kate Taylor and Taylor Hollingsworth's new project DEAD FINGERS, who some of you will know already from Conor Oberst's Mystic Valley Band or the Maria Taylor Band and a few other places. They have now combined to become this slightly wistful country duo.
The album's opener Closet Full Of Bones reminded me of Hurray For The Riff Raff and that is no bad thing, but the first song on the album to grab me was 4 Stone Coaches: a good, slightly frazzled rather laid back country tune. Indeed, as they sing about them blowing down the road I was already on the journey with them.
Ring Around Saturn is an old time country love song in which Taylor Hollingsworth's high country voice does it's best to sound like Roscoe Holcomb as he claims that the rings around Saturn are not a big enough ring for you. It's sweet but not sickly.
Against The River, however, is a real good country rock hoedown of a tune that should get plenty of people dancing to it and there the two voices weave together nicely. For me, it sounds like a single or certainly a tune capable of getting plenty of radio play.
|
Lost in Mississippi is the oddest and quirkiest thing on the album and sounds almost like a piano rag in places while Taylor does his oddest highest voice and Kate tries to balance the weirdness out with a bit of a straighter vocal. Either way it ends up being quite bewitching as you hope they find their way out of Mississippi once more.
Never Be My Man has by far the best guitars on the album with a really good fuzzy sound to it, although the song doesn't quite sound dark enough to live up to the lyrical content.
The album more than held my interest and is worth investigating, especially if you like modern, slightly askew country music.
|
