FEATURED REVIEW.......................................................14 MARCH 2005
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Artist:
KATHLEEN EDWARDS |
Music critics trundle out the "this is not a sophomore slump" cliché each time an artist manages to cobble together an acceptable second album. How many reviews have you read that begin with some variant of the following: "On his/her second release (insert album title here), so-and-so refuses to succumb to the sophomore slump"? Yes, well, trundle trundle. On her second release, Back to Me, Kathleen Edwards refuses et cetera, et cetera. (Have we ever mentioned how irritating we find people who pronounce "et cetera" as if it were spelled "ek cetera"? Yahoos.)
Lest you get the wrong idea, Back to Me is neither "cobbled" nor merely "acceptable"--the second release from the Canadian songstress is a laudable effort. (Outing Canadians seems to be another significant component of "serious" rock criticism, and we're always looking for ways to legitimize ourselves. Okay, we'll quit with the parentheticals.)
The lead track, "In State" opens with a bang--throaty organ and muscular guitars, and Ms. Edwards threatening to call the cops on us. We don't think she's bluffing.
"Back to Me"--the album's first single--follows. "I got ways to make you sorry" she drawls (with such affect that we wonder whether she's actually singing, "I got ways to make you sore, eh?"). Before the full band kicks in, she stretches the line "I got ways to make you come" just long enough to make the concluding "back to me" an afterthought. The pun is a bit clunky, the production a tad too slick, but the song's catchy (and we forgive minor sins).
In addition to "In State" and "Back to Me," the other up-tempo radio-friendly rocker is "Independent Thief" (or would be, rather, if there were any friendly radio left). "Gimme a bet, I'll take it / I got twenty bucks, says I'm gonna make it," the song begins. A safe bet, we'd wager.
Edwards is not only observant, but a crafty wordsmith. "This is your life, I get copied keys" may not be the album's cleverest turn of phrase, but it's one of our favorites.
Another line--"Everybody out here, they want to live somewhere else" (from the song "Somewhere Else")--might be the regional slogan for this land they call the Midwest. However, ever on the lookout for cheeze, we must object to the suspiciously horn-like "honk honk honk" which punctuates the chorus. What's that supposed to be, Canadian geese giving us the fly-by?
In summation: Perhaps fewer standout tracks than Failer, but who are we to snipe? Shell out the 15 bucks--it's worth it. One cheezeball for the aforementioned hiccups.
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A NOTE ON THE RATING SYSTEM:
5 CHEEZEBALLS = UNLISTENABLE SCHLOCK
3 CHEEZEBALLS = A DIFFICULT SLOG
1 CHEEZEBALL = THE ODD FORGIVABLE MISSTEP
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