I am uncertain where Ms Jonas’s tongue sits for this one, but I’ll hazard and hope it is firmly in cheek, the whole of this release screaming bargain basement excess, in the best possible sense of that, a knowing glimpse into tack and tinsel. Of course, to deliver a set this convincing, there needs some sturdy scaffolding, which, through her singing and playing, backed by a stellar all the country you can kick band, making that a given. A voice that can pick up shades of Nanci Griffith and Dolly Parton, each at their ballsiest best, with hints even, gulp, of Shania Twain, but not too much.
‘Rich Man’s Valley’ gallops first out the corral, all twangy guitars, tinkling piano and sawdust fiddle. With a tune not a million miles away from ‘C’Est La Vie’, Emmylou’s version, it even includes a yodel in the chorus, so as to leave no doubt where she is coming from. It is a corking start, the musicians offering brief solo polish to the construction, and that’s even ahead touching the lyric. Dig below the yee-haw surface and it is a serious song, loosely telling the tale of the Carter family and their journey from dustbowl to music royalty.
That leads, effortlessly, into “Four Cadillacs”, a look at me swagger about buying, initially three Cadillacs, “one for my mama, one for my daddy, one for me”; after all, if the Carters can, hey! The fourth, sure, well, that’s for her beau. This is the song that carries most the Twain comparisons but is conveyed with enough charm to belie that thought. Play it a couple of times, and it’ll be stuck in your head all day. It’s as cheesy as can be, if with an AOC that oozes class, more Kentucky Rose than Monterey Jack.
Things slow and settle, a little, for the ‘Shake, Bump and Grind Show’, a well-crafted slow burn about Elvis, the band adding well placed steel and banjo. It’s Jonas herself on the banjo. A speeded-up coda is a delicious way to end the song, with the guitar of Tim Bray channeling James Burton, in both his Elvis and Emmylou guises. Followed by ‘Gold in the Sand’, a song about Vegas, it has lyrical conceits and concerns all well placed, with the melody and arrangement deliberately inflicting whiffs of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’. This is good.
With ‘Let’s Go to Hawaii’, Jonas sings with all the innocence of someone who has never been (which she hasn’t). A hula rhythm carries all the shimmery steel you’d expect, this is, as elsewhere, courtesy Ahren Buchheister. If it evokes Jimmy Buffett, it’s supposed to. It’s then back to the cheesemonger for ‘Plastic Pink Flamingo’s’, that tongue in cheek once more elevating the outcome into some prime western swing, worthy of Asleep At The Wheel.
The spectre of Elvis returns for ‘Call Dr Nick’, a sad country blues, the physician in question being Presley’s pusher of prescription pills. Benji Porecki’s organ fills out the feel of desperation and it is a highlight amongst many. ‘Black Jacket/Red Guitar’ now applies some Nashville rock to the cocktail, echoes of Eagles’ ‘Already Gone’ wafting through, as steel and guitars duel. ‘Mama’s Gone’ brings in some brass for a 12 bar excursion into the underside of the American dream. (Where’s Mama gone? Well, it ain’t Memphis.)
With no shortage of sub-genres to mine, ‘Online Shopping’ is then a 50s style doo-wop ode to wine as a shopping aid from the comfort of your own bedroom. (Or bathtub, as it happens!) The lyrics are a hoot and not far short of the mark; we’ve all done it, the Twain references again subverted by the wry imagery. This leads into the spoken word narrative of the title track, the sobering morning after, following bathtub spree buying. Sad and true both, it encapsulates the disappointment that triumphs the promise. Ouch! What is there to do next after that? The answer is clearly ‘Buy’, the title of the closer, and so the bitter-sweet journey comes around: “I look into a magazine to see what I could buy”. Ouch again…….
I like this album. It’s her seventh, recorded, remarkably, in just three days, the tightness of her band showing their shared history, the engine room of Seth Morrissey and Ben Tufts, bass and drums respectively, a sure and steady rudder, as the songs navigate all the disparate tropes of the well-connected themes. She is definitely one to watch and tours the UK in October.
Seuras Og
Artist’s website: www.karenjonasmusic.com
‘Plastic Pink Flamingos’ – official video:
We all give our spare time to run folking.com. Our aim has always been to keep folking a free service for our visitors, artists, PR agencies and tour promoters. If you wish help out and donate something (running costs currently funded by Paul Miles), please click the PayPal link below to send us a small one off payment or a monthly contribution.
Thanks for stopping by. Please help us continue and support us by tipping/donating to folking.com via
You must be logged in to post a comment.