The Curious
Mystery,
Rotting
Slowly, K
Records
[5/19/09]
Seattle's The Curious Mystery lays claim to the same sort of hallowed ground carved out by David Roback's Opal and Mazzy Star.
More recent practitioners of the narcotized proto-punk blues include Nina Nastasia, Cat Power, Scout Niblett, She Keeps Bees, and P.J. Harvey on 1995's To Bring You My Love. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing, so Rotting Slowly was right up my...lonely avenue.
Granted, it's a formula: smoky chanteuse, usually an alto, confesses her darkest secrets over slow-motion guitar with slide interludes, minimal bass, and jazzbo drums--heavy on the brushes--but like any formula, it only seems tired and played-out when executed poorly.
Though guitarist and Texas transplant Nicolas Gonzalez takes the microphone
on occasion ("Teeth of all Types," "It's Tough," and "Community Bed"), with
Shana Cleveland (banjo, guitar, autoharp) providing backing vocals, Cleveland is the band's secret weapon--if she goes off-pitch on "Go Forth and Gather," her seductive voice helps to compensate.
Granted, it's a formula: smoky chanteuse, usually an alto, confesses her darkest secrets over slow-motion guitar with slide interludes, minimal bass, and jazzbo drums--heavy on the brushes--but like any formula, it only seems tired and played-out when executed poorly.
Though guitarist and Texas transplant Nicolas Gonzalez takes the microphone on occasion ("Teeth of all Types," "It's Tough," and "Community Bed"), with
Shana Cleveland (banjo, guitar, autoharp) providing backing vocals, Cleveland is the band's secret weapon--if she goes off-pitch on "Go Forth and Gather," her seductive voice helps to compensate.
Faustine B. Hudson (drums, gong, dinner bell, plastic tube) and Bradford Button (bass guitar) complete a Seattle-based line-up that boasts some of the coolest names in rock. (If you search Amazon using the band's name, David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button shows up among the results).
If I've never heard of an artist and act before, I don't tend to expect a lot, because buzz travels louder and faster than ever these days, and the Curious Mystery was new to me until a few days ago.
So, I turned on Rotting Slowly, with no preconceptions about what was about to unfold. By the third song, a frisky instrumental, I realized that this is one of my favorite records of the year. If you like any of the artists above you may come to the same conclusion.
For more information about the Curious Mystery, click here. Images from Flickr (Jay Cox; Feb 8 at the Mars Bar) and the AMG.
If I've never heard of an artist and act before, I don't tend to expect a lot, because buzz travels louder and faster than ever these days, and the Curious Mystery was new to me until a few days ago.
So, I turned on Rotting Slowly, with no preconceptions about what was about to unfold. By the third song, a frisky instrumental, I realized that this is one of my favorite records of the year. If you like any of the artists above you may come to the same conclusion.
For more information about the Curious Mystery, click here. Images from Flickr (Jay Cox; Feb 8 at the Mars Bar) and the AMG.
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