FEATURED REVIEW................................................21 FEBRUARY 2005
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Artist:
MARY GAUTHIER |
In case no one's told you yet, it's pronounced "go-SHAY." (We're still trying to figure out why, exactly--"go-tee-AY" seems reasonable, but "go-SHAY"? Is there a linguist in the house?) In any event, the fourth release from Ms. Gauthier ought to have people aping her alternate phonetics.
The album
opens with an atmospheric rumble. "It's a cheap hotel, /
the heat pipes hiss," Gauthier sings, "the bathroom's down the
hall / and it smells like piss." No punches being pulled here. "Falling
Out of Love" may indeed be a dangerous thing, (as the chorus of the
opening track asserts) but so are inevitable comparisons to Lucinda Williams.
Stack anyone up against Lucinda Williams, and you can bet that the object
of your comparison (to cop a line from a recent No Depression review)
comes off looking like a lesser Lucinda.
Gauthier is no lesser Lucinda. Mercy Now is a formidable release, and, verily, the Lucinda comparisons will follow. Yes, both have Louisiana roots. Yes, Gurf Morlix produced the disc. Yes, this album is on Lost Highway. Yes, Gauthier downright sounds like Lucinda Williams. We know. Maybe Lucinda Williams comparisons are so commonplace because "Lucinda Williams" comes more trippingly off the tongue than, say, "countrybluesswampfolkfusion." Fine. If it is Lucinda Williams comparisons you must have, this is top notch Lucinda Williams music.
In fact, the album offers little for us to nit-pick. Maybe the first track is a bit too clean, the bass kick a bit too prominent, the deep backing chorus a bit too slick, but we'd really be splitting hairs if we were to levy a complaint. The only song on the album that is serious cheeze for thought is the album's third track, "Wheel Inside the Wheel." A hallucinogenic account of carnivale, New Orleans style, the track features muscular picking and spoken-word verses that almost make us overlook the cheezy chorus. As the song is more than six-and-a-half minutes long, however, the chorus grates just enough to warrant mention--particularly the way in which the final line ("Roll on, brother, in the wheel inside the wheel") is oozed out.
In summation: Despite "Wheel Inside the Wheel," we endorse this one. We are, nonetheless, duty-bound to award Ms. Gauthier one lonely cheezeball.
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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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