We are the Pipettes
THE PIPETTES
(Cherrytree/Interscope)
Charming, smart and sexy, The Pipettes are a near-perfect pop package. The British trio's debut album, We Are the Pipettes, is 16 tiny tracks (only one clocks in at over three minutes) of blissed-out subversion. The sonics are pure sweetness: shimmering vocal harmonies; soaring string symphonies that hark back to 1960s girl groups; and bouncy, synth-y numbers that recall the music of early-'80s acts like the Go-Go's.
The Pipettes' appeal, though, has as much to do with their songwriting chops as it does with the spot-on work of producers Andy Dragazis and Gareth Parton. Pipettes Gwenno, Riotbecki and Rosay split the songwriting credits, so its unclear if one or all three members contribute to the lyrics, which read like feminist send-ups of the '60s girl-group lines about subservience and devotion (lines that were often as not penned by horny men). Check out the cheeky fun The Pipettes have with ditties like "One Night Stand" and the album's lead single, "Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me." But my favorite, the song that sold me on this group months ago when I found the tune posted on their MySpace page and wrote it up as a recommended download, is "Judy." Less than three minutes long, the song manages to tell a poignant tale that's the pop equivalent of a John Hughes flick. Judy, the popular mean girl in high school, is taught the meaning of friendship by the singer, who sounds as irresistible as Molly Ringwald's character in The Breakfast Club. 4 stars —Wade Tatangelo
At Home
SLOW POKE
(Palmetto)
In the summer of 1998, four musical confederates gathered together in the Brooklyn apartment of bassist Tony Scherr and made some magic. Saxophonist Michael Blake, drummer Kenny Wolleson, slide-guitar savant Dave Tronzo and Scherr performed a loose, raggedy set of instrumentals, taking material from such far-ranging sources as Eddie Harris ("Listen Here"), Neil Young ("Harvest") and Duke Ellington ("Rockin' in Rhythm") and mixing in a few Blake originals. The quartet slowed down the covers, evoking a relaxed vibe with plenty of space for unhurried solos. Slow Poke's At Home sees the light for the first time in a digital-only format. The album ranges from the languid, loose-limbed funk of "Listen Here" and "Rockin' in Rhythm" to the stripper blues "Dry Socket," the folkish "Saturday Option" and its most inventive piece: a spunky slice of pseudo-Afrobeat called "Afro Blake." While the musicians show a palpable sense of easy chemistry, Tronzo is the main draw here. He splits the difference between greasy, blues-based work and more out-there slithery ramblings. Tronzo's most often associated with the New York "downtown" scene (as are the other Slow Pokes, by and large), but his mastery, at turns subtle and jaw-dropping, is deserving of a far wider audience. Available for download at palmetto-records.com. 4 stars —Eric Snider
Raising Sand
ROBERT PLANT/ALISON KRAUSS
(Rounder)
A fascinating collaboration, Raising Sand finds Led Zeppelin howler Robert Plant and bluegrass angel Alison Krauss swapping lead vocals and occasionally sharing the mic on loose harmonies that recall Gram Parsons' work with Emmylou Harris. While Plant and Krauss might look like an odd match on paper, on record they sound natural together, with the former Zep frontman adopting a much softer approach than one would expect from the voice behind "Whole Lotta Love." Superstar producer T-Bone Burnett surrounds the vocalists with ace musicians like guitarist Norman Blake, creating a swampy, atmospheric sound reminiscent of what Daniel Lanois did for numerous artists, including Harris, in the '90s. The songs on Raising Sand are a judiciously chosen set of blues, oldies rock and classic country that range from a warm, rollicking version of The Everly Brothers' "Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)" to a painfully poignant reading of Roly Salley's "Killing the Blues," which would be the definitive version of the song had underrated modern blues great Chris Smither not already recorded it. Interestingly, on this album of mostly covers, the song that stands out as a new classic is Plant's own "Please Read the Letter," which he originally recorded for Walking to Clarksdale, his 1998 collaboration with Jimmy Page. On balance, Raising Sand holds up as a gamble that pays off, making it Plant's most adventurous and satisfying release made with someone other than his old partner in crime from the Zeppelin days. 3.5 stars —WT
This article appears in Oct 24-30, 2007.