CD snap judgements

Joanna This Crazy Life I listen to a lot of CDs. And as I've mentioned previously I dig female vocals, but I like interesting female vocals. If a singer has a merely average or decent voice then I expect that they'll try to wow me lyrically or try something novel to keep me interested and entertained. None of that happened here. Joanna's singing voice isn't unique enough or interesting enough to comment on, though there is a brief moment when she approaches a Tori Amos-esque sound on "Ultraviolet." The greatest sin of this CD is: it's boring. There's no hooks musically or lyrically. Her handling of "Screaming Infidelities" makes the song a plodding mess. The best three tracks on the album are "Tip Toe," "Drifter," and "This Crazy Life." They're the only only tracks which approach being lively. I don't know who to blame for this lame disc: the music industry, American Idol, or an undiscerning public.

Ana Popovic Still Making History I saw some really great guitar playing live last month. So much so I wanted to buy a Gretsch...despite the fact I can't play a lick. Ana Popovic can though. don't know if she plays a Gretsch or not, but her guitar work is freaking amazing. Sure when listening to the disc it's the vocals you notice first. You hear her singing, and then the guitars kick in and you're like "yeah, awesome." It takes a couple ticks to realize that the same person singing is also the one shredding on guitar. And well it sort of blew my mind at the time. This CD is some outstanding blues rock. So much so it's hard for me to single out a song I like best. Not implying the songs all sound the same, they don't. They're all so damned good I can't recommend one over the other. Though I do have much affection for "U Complete Me," because not having heard Ana Popovic before I wasn't expecting the soulful song that came blasting over the car stereo speakers and really looking at the title didn't inspire confidence. I've never been so glad to be proven wrong.

Three Bad Jacks Crazy in the Head Been meaning to pick this up for a long time. Heard of the Jacks...someplace maybe Pandora maybe MySpace. I'd say the band falls somewhere between Stray Cats and Social Distortion on the continuum of rockabilly--maybe...call them equal parts Cats, Social D, and Rev. Horton Heat. The best part is that while they show obvious affection for old school rock and rockabilly they manage to emerge as something much more than mere rockabilly revivalists. Could be the punk and psychobilly influences, could be the solid songwriting, could be the cover of "Ace of Spades." After my first listen I wanted to say I was glad that they saved "Gone Gone Goodbye" and "Long Black Train" and "Remember the Nights" for the end of the disk because they're the most straightforward rockabilly of the set...but that's false and a pretty stupid thing to say. The vocals and the sound might be "cleaner" maybe, but there's no way they are any more or less rockabilly than a song like "Run Johnny Run" or "Hellbound Train." What the final 3 songs, and heck, all the songs on the album do is show how versatile the band is while still maintaining a cohesive sound and identity. Highly recommended.