Rachel Brooke
Late Night Lover
(Self released)
7" 33-RPM E.P., picture sleeveBrooke released a full album called Down in the Barnyard last year and here the Michigan-based artist with the plaintive singing style treats her fans to a 4-song tide-me-over. Listen closely and you'll hear that Brooke works in a vein that's more understated than it is forlorn. "Late Night Lover" for example isn't a salacious frenzy; it's a slow-paced, light-the-scented-candles-and-take-a-bath dreamy anticipation of what's to come. "Ashes to Ashes" is also performed as a gentle amble but Brooke, accompanying herself with acoustic guitar strumming, adds a little sass to her vocal and the song is structured so that it could be electrified and turned into a blues or country rocker should she desire. Late Night Lover comes with a sleeve that includes the song lyrics but you won't need them; Brooke's voice is as clear as a mountain stream and just as refreshing.
White Buffalo Woman
"My Days" b/w "This Town"
Grimtale
7" 45-RPM single in picture sleeve, white vinyl
White Buffalo Woman, a four piece from Ohio, gives "My Days" a simmering blues-rock reading where singer Evan Rutledge moans out a requiem for a shattered love affair while guitarist Adam Murphy ladles on additional hurt. Rutledge has a voice that recalls Peter Wolf and the arrangement of the song indicates that WBW might be fans of pre-hit single era J. Geils Band. "This Town" on the other hand is more of a garage rocker, tinged with psychedelia where Murphy's guitar parts are aimed more at the mind than the gut shots he takes on the flip side. Good beer drinking, turn-it-up-loud music that no doubt sounds even better live.
