"...tryin' to quit'll make you wish you didn't start..." Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now

Dear Reader,

I realise now that a comment I made in a previous review (namely, that of She & Him’s ‘Volume 2’) was somewhat flippant and misinformed. The comment in question came at the end of said review and read “I’ll be very surprised if I hear a pop album quite this perfect for some time.” *

Well, colour me surprised (kind of off white, with a hint of mauve perhaps. I like that word. Mauve). ‘Volume 2’, is indeed a cracking little pop record, but it has nothing on Caitlin Rose’s debut full length (her debut e.p. ‘Dead Flowers’ was released here earlier this year, the US have had it since 2008) ‘Own Side Now’,

If that title sounds vaguely familiar, it may well bring to mind the Joni Mitchell song ‘Both Sides Now’, which isn’t where the similarities between the two end. Rose’s songs, much like Mitchell’s are incredibly well crafted, their beauty often lying in their simplicity. Take the title track, which by Rose’s own admission is one the most simple and honest things she has written. The delivery of the line “who’s gonna want me when I’m just somewhere you’ve been” is so simple, so restrained, yet so full of emotion, that it never fails to bring a lump to my throat.

Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now 

Some of these songs were written, staggeringly, when she was 16/17 years of age (she’s now 23, which makes me feel very old indeed), one such song, a particular highlight, is ‘For the Rabbits’, about two high school friends and their on again/off again relationship, it has been stuck firmly in my head since the moment I heard it, as has ‘Shanghai Cigarettes’, which wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Conor Oberst’s solo, or …and the Mystic Valley Band L.P’s.

Caitlin Rose - For The Rabbits

This is not one of those records, I think, that will be listened to intensely for a month or so, only to be neglected there after, of course, only time will tell, but in the small amount of time since it popped through my letter box, it’s been there, in my noggin’ nagging at me “go on, put me on again, go on, you will” like a Nashville born Mrs Doyle (should I be worried about that, do you think? The voices, in my head?)

To pre-emptively answer your question, I’m not quite sure why I wrote this review in the form of a letter, perhaps so they don’t becoming incredibly samey. Either way, it’s a rather irritating affectation which I won’t be employing again.

Anyway, how are things with you?

Joe.

P.S. She’s supporting Megafaun at the Bandroom in Farndale at the end of the month, which will, I’d expect, own.

P.P.S  Thought I'd try using soundcloud in reviews, hopefully, it's worked!

*(I do understand there can be, by definition, no varying level of perfection, I don’t understand why I wrote that.)

She & Him - Volume 2

Jared Leto’s 30 Seconds to Mars, Keanu Reeves’ Dogstar, Russell Crowe’s…and The Ordinary Fear of God.
Actor’s bands, as you can see, have somewhat of a chequered past.

I mention this as She & Him are actress Zooey Deschanel (Elf, (500) Days of Summer) and sometime Monster of Folk; M.Ward.
“Sometimes lonely isn’t sad” sings Deschanel on ‘Thieves’ which opens ‘Volume 2’ (shockingly, their second album), this sets the mood for the rest of the album, lyrically rather melancholic, but musically, irresistibly cheerful.
Her “mmm-hmm’s” and “uh-huh’s” make the cover of Skeeter Thompson’s ‘Gonna Get Along Without You Now’ more infectious, and downright joyous than it has any right to be. Ward’s role is a subtle one, so much so that when his vocals arrive on ‘Ridin’ In My Car’ (another cover) it comes as somewhat as a surprise, like bumping into an old friend that you haven’t seen in years. His guitar playing and arrangements compliment Dechanel’s voice (not the strongest, but used to great effect throughout) incredibly well, and the bridge of ‘Home’, when the song delicately and majestically changes direction, is just gorgeous.
Mike Mogis (another Monster of Folk and member of Bright Eyes) has done a sterling job with the production on this record, restrained, but effective. For much of the album Deschanel’s vocals are backed up by a trio of Deschanels, giving them somewhat of a Supreme’s-esque quality.
‘Volume 2’ is an absolute triumph, unashamedly nostalgic (they wouldn’t have looked out of place performing at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance at Hill Valley High School in 1955) more than a little twee (as fuck), it combines Deschanel’s love of country music and Ward’s alt.folk credentials to great effect. I’ll be very surprised if I hear a pop album quite this perfect for some time.
Roll on Volume 3!