3/11/2023 0 Comments Sunny came home mandolin![]() ![]() The songwriting doesn’t do much to establish a clear identity for The Wreckers: “Tennessee” and “Cigarettes,” the two songs that Harp wrote on her own, have strong enough hooks, but they don’t hold up against “One More Girl,” a Patty Griffin cover. The problem with that, of course, is that The Spirit Room and its follow up, Hotel Paper, were little more than anonymous MOR, and throwing in a few country instruments isn’t enough to make that sound any more distinctive. ![]() Though she’s affecting a bit of a drawl-and if there’s anything Branch needs less, it’s an affected vocal style-and there’s an occasional pedal steel or banjo mixed lightly into the electric guitars, much of Stand Still, Look Pretty could pass for a follow-up to the VH1 rock of her first album The Spirit Room. ![]() This isn’t new territory for Leventhal-he produced Shawn Colvin’s mandolin driven “Sunny Came Home” and much of the recent work by his wife, Rosanne Cash-and it isn’t a huge departure for Branch either. The result is an album that’s as “country” as Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” or anything SheDaisy have ever released-which is to say barely, if at all. While Lewis and Chan Marshall went for a decidedly retro-country sound for their albums, the Wreckers and producer John Leventhal are more interested in a contemporary sound. A Few Small Repairs marks a reunion with former collaborator/producer John Leventhal, and the two have found a perfect blend between words, music, and tasteful, organic arrangements for Colvin's finest effort to date.Proving that the trend of recording would-be country albums as some kind of credibility maneuver isn’t confined to indie acts (the Elected’s Sun Sun Sun, Cat Power’s The Greatest, and Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins’s Rabbit Fur Coat), along comes Michelle Branch, teaming up with bestie Jessica Harp to form the Wreckers, whose debut, Stand Still, Look Pretty, has already landed a few songs on One Tree Hill and Smallville and scored a top 40 hit at country radio. The subject matter predictably gives a generally dark mood to the album, but musically, the results are both diverse and irresistibly catchy. Colvin has always been a songwriter of note, but with A Few Small Repairs, she reaches new heights, painting hauntingly vivid images that address not only relationships but also life in general with great insight. And while the album is certainly a response, she avoids the obvious clichés in dealing with the aftermath, revealing instead the complex thought processes and complete range of human emotion, from anger, sadness, confusion, yearning, and disillusionment to resolve and recovery. “A Few Small Repairs, the proper follow-up to Fat City, was recorded on the heels of Shawn Colvin's divorce. TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informalġ998 Grammy Award Winner for Record of the Year and Song of the Year - "Sunny Came Home" Recorded at Sear Sound, 12th Street Studio, Shelter Island Sound, NYC Cedar Creek Recording, Austin, TX Sony Studios, Los Angeles, CA.Įngineered by Joe Blaney, John Leventhal, Mark Plati Michael Rhodes - bass guitar (A1, A3, A6, B3-4) Kate Markowitz - harmony vocals (A1, A4), background vocals (A4) Rick Depofi - tenor saxophone (A4), clarinet (B1), bass clarinet (A3), piccolo flute (B3), recorder instrument (B3)ĭanny Ferrington - background vocals (A4) John Leventhal - All guitars (A2), electric guitar (B6), additional guitars (A1, A3-6, B2-4, B5-6), pedal steel guitar (A6), mandolin (A1), keyboards (A1-5, B2-4, B5-6), organ played by (A6), violin (A1), additional percussion (A1, A3-6, B2-4, B6), harmonica (A2, A4), background vocals (A4, B3, B6) Shawn Colvin - All vocals (A2, A5-B2, B6), lead vocals (A1, A3-4, B3-4, B6), background vocals (A4), acoustic guitar (A1, A5, B2-4, B5-6), additional guitars (A6), piano (B1), handclaps (A2) ![]()
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