Oh My Girl

Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, Jesse Sykes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Barsuk
• ASIN: B00023B1F8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,031 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goth Folk? Alt-Country? No..., February 28, 2006

By 

trollificus (Zion, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Oh My Girl (Audio CD)

...there's not really an apt categorization for this kind of music, though I understand the necessity of description.

There are some applicable adjectives, though...spooky, spare, echoey, dark, moody, elegaic. Hmmm...that list kind of understates the LIFE in these songs, and doesn't convey the satisfaction derived from the great (though not showy) guitar work. I don't know how good a guitar player Wandscher is, compared to others, but his guitar sure has a lot of perfect notes in it, and he finds them all. (In this respect, it recalls some of the old Neil Young albums.)

I somehow *ahem* got the "You Are Not Gotten Here" track on my computer, and listened the hell out of it, and started to wonder if the REST of their work could possibly sound like that. It does, and it's good. The songs are basically folk songs, and the alt-country labels come from the instrumental lineup of twangy electric and fingerpicked acoustic guitar, viola, pedal steel and upright bass. This is perfect for the songs. Jesse Sykes was quoted as saying that when she first started playing with Wandscher, she felt he was 'building a house the songs could live in'. Very apt.

If you can handle minimalist or downtempo music, if you don't need every song you hear to effect some 150db hormonal change, if your emotional palette extends beyond sex/aggression/coolness*, this is wonderful stuff. Get it.

*-yes, I'm aware those are not actually emotions. Don't blame ME, I'M not the 18-year-old baggypantser listening to cookie-cutter corporap.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slow burn, August 6, 2004

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JG "wordmule" (...onward....thru the fog!) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Oh My Girl (Audio CD)

You might hear echoes of Janis Joplin, a quiet Lucinda Williams, Margo Timmins and Cowboy Junkies, or Jim White. Sykes also sounds a little like Beth Orton stranded in a little western town on the prairie with nothing to eat but peyote. These are just some of the musical references, but hopefully convey the ambience of this album. Jesse Sykes has a sound that blends a bunch of different influences, ultimately making her own sound. It's mesmerizing, intimate, intense late night music. Great CD.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding, July 4, 2004

By 

Mark O'Connor (Rothesay, N.B.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Oh My Girl (Audio CD)

The music is spellbinding. Smoky vocals, plucked acoustic guitar underpinnings, melodious, twangy reverb laden electric guitars, and enchanting harmonies. More accessible with a somewhat warmer feel and a bit quicker pulse than the debut masterpiece Reckless Burning. The pop leanings of Tell The Boys, with a chorus so infectious it should be quarantined, is likely to garner plenty of play on college radio. Fans of Neko Case and Oh Susanna will likely love this.