The term supergroup is so overused that the moment I see it,
I grow suspicious. In the case of Wonder Women of Country, I yield to
whomever first gave that handle to the trio of Kelly Willis, Melissa Carper,
and Brennen Leigh. Willis, of course, is the best known of the three having
rocketed to fame in the 1990s in the pop/rock-infused genre that is today’s
country music. It was sheer genius to join forces with Carper, a standup bass
player who is more Hank Williams and Patsy Cline than modern country, and
mandolin/guitar/vocal talent Leigh. Put them together and they are a dynamic combination.
Among the gems is the cheeky western swing of “Fly Ya to Hawaii” sparked by a
hint of yodeling, Willis going retro on “Won’t Be Worried Now” and singing of
love gone missing on “Another Broken Heart” to Leigh’s turn-back-the-clock
electric lead, and a bass-heavy calypso reworking John Prine’s “I Have Met MyLove Today.” The eponymo
usly named Wonder Women of Country release
returns us to the harmony- and tune-forward country music of yore. Wonder Women
of Country are my artists of the month.
Holly Lerski has been a musical nomad. She’s British and learned to play Led Zep licks in her ‘tweens during the 1970s, played rock in the ‘80s, and was inspired by Jeff Buckley in the ‘90s and first decade of the ‘00s. Then she traveled to the United States and was blown away by the West: the prairies, the mountains, the Pacific, the redwoods…. Sweet Decline is her foray into Americana. With titles such as “Chicago,” “Joshua Tree,” “Carmel,” and “Yosemite,” she leaves little doubt about her lasting impressions. “Sweet Decline” also reflects her immersion in the West, right down to the splashes of pedal steel in the mix and lyrics comparing the mountain ridges to the curvy stickle back of her thoughts and down the middle of the sweet decline. Its wistful edge suggests she’s musing of her journey into middle age. “Tall Trees” is elemental in both metaphorical and literal ways as she hints at a fractured relationship that can be healed with love that endures like centuries-old giant pines. But don’t worry; there’s joy on the album. “Oh Cassy Run” is bouncy in the ways older Joni Mitchell songs used to be (though Cassy is a dog). She also has a fine song titled “Nepenthe,” a word that usually means a mythical Greek drug of forgetfulness, but all indications are that Lerski has her memories intact.
As Above So Below is the debut recording from the duo/life partners Mike McClure and Chrislyn Lawrence who perform as Crow and Gazelle. That unusual moniker owes its origin to the first two tarot cards drawn during an early date. Each spent a lot of their youth in fundamentalist parts of Oklahoma and Texas, but as the title track reveals, they opted out of harsh tenants for a more universalist faith in which the gap between the human and the divine is narrower. “Still Free to Fly” dispels wisdom in how they dumped the libertine view of freedom in favor of one that replaces drifting in the twilight with one that celebrates not needing to wander. If you have any doubt about what they mean, check out the lyric version of “Blackbird." To don my reviewer hat, though, I found McClure and Lawrence more admirable than musically enticing. For my tastes, the album is too safe and of a piece.
Spencer LaJoye has released Shadow Puppets, an apt title on several levels. LaJoye grew up in an evangelical household, but uses the pronoun they, identifies as non-binary, and is religious but adamantly non-Christian. This Michigan-based singer songwriter is unafraid to play in churches or to assert their experiences. On the title track LaJoye confesses … all I got is a shadow so big, a shadow so wide/it’s a darkness I fit my whole self inside, and later boldly discusses top surgery in an offering directly titled “Surgery.” LaJoye has been well received by many communities of faith, in part because of songs like “Plowshare Prayer.” It is, in my estimation, the best song on the album. It is deeply spiritual, appeals to a higher power, and challenges believers to live up their creeds. Listen to the link as the close captioning reveals the depth of those sentiments. LaJoye has a powerful message and an even more powerful voice. The arrangements, though, could use much more diversity.
Evan Boyer is about to drop The Devil in Me. In the namesake song he comes off as the anti-Spencer LaJoye: I’m a bad man doing bad things/I’ve walked the line so many times for all the joy it brings/I’ve got a bad way, pray for me like rain/I should have died so many times and all the souls would have been saved. I couldn’t find a clip of this excellent gritty song, but I suspect that this Dallas-based Americana artist who draws comparisons to Jason Isbell and Tom Petty is more bark than bite. “Burn the Ships,” backed by the excellent Texas band Della Rose, is soulful country that’s more a man searching for a landing place than a bad boy anthem. “Cedar Creek” is positively sweet, the hard edges of his big voice notwithstanding. Ditto “Home to You.” Hey Evan, get some more vids out there so more people can hear what I did.
Rob Weir
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