Customer Reviews

If We Can't Trust the Doctors

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first album out for this Detroit-based band is one of the best albums I heard in 2004. Its haunting melodies and somber tone are offset by a wonderful sense of humor. Dan Miller, the groups primary singer/songwriter, has a way with lyrics that cause those tearful eyes to twinkle. On songs like The Hopeless Waltz, Miller sings of hope as though it is a villain, and croons "Hopefully, I'll never hope again." The album is full of clever lyrics, interesting guitar licks, and fascinating vocals by Miller, who sounds a lot like Hank Williams Sr at times, is backed up by the soothing vocals of his wife, Tracee, and all backed by beautiful instrumentation. Pedal steel player Feeny and banjo artist Patch Boyle add a distinctly "country" vibe, while bass player Tracee and drummer Lisa Jannon keep the rhythm in check.

All in all this is a wonderful album for anyone who is interested in the diversity that can be obtained when not limiting yourself to a label of rock and roll or country.

As it's pretty much been said before, the band's haunting melodies and passioned chants are soul-striking to say the least. The rhythm, the tone, and the style of Blanche's music is in and from a direction that i've rarely traveled musically. This album is phenomenal. I recommend it to anyway who wants to be moved by music.

If I had to categorize this album, I'd call it Country Goth. It mixes strains of Hank Williams and Buddy Holly with the despairing wail of Marilyn Manson. The stronger songs on this disk are sonically compelling even as they force you to bathe in dread and marinate in morbidity. Even at the end, when the group takes on the old hillbilly spiritual "Wayfaring Stranger," their sound bespeaks a godless world in which death is the best we can hope for. Where this album succeeds, it succeeds spectacularly.

That said, I still can't bring myself to recommend this CD to newbies.

This album has some real treasures on it. Tracks like "Who's To Say," "Another Lost Summer," and "Someday" make hopelessness seem like a valid choice. The biblically stark instrumentation, reminiscent at times of Bob Dylan's "John Wesley Harding" album, is gorgeous and effectively carries the theme from the songs, of a narrator who has given up on human contact.

But other songs, like "Hopeless Waltz" and "Do You Trust Me," feel self-indulgent. The whole middle of the album is at almost exactly the same tempo, lapsing into vacant mood music. The two longest songs on the disk, "So Long Cruel World" and "Jack On Fire," aren't supported by the lyrics or the music and feel like they're doubling back on themselves. This is music for marching in place and it doesn't bear up to repeated listening.

There is enough on this CD to persuade me that, with time and seasoning, Blanche may be one of the major forward-thinking voices in alternative country. Several individual tracks are worth listening to, and even a few well-chosen chords feel like zygotes of great songs that will come later. For the time being, though, this album feels like the band members are trying on shoes that are too big for them and hoping they'll grow. I look forward to hearing what this band does in the future, but in the present it just doesn't work like it should.

Blanche...another one of your typical bands from the motor city...NOT!!!!!!!! Dan Miller never ceases to amaze me whether its Two Star Tabernacle, Goober and The Peas, or Blanche. All of his bands rocked to tell you the truth, but especially his current band, Blanche. Who's To Say includes Brendan Benson with backing vocals and Mr. Jack White (yes the pasty white guy from The White Stripes, another rad band) playin the guitar solo on it. Superstition is another one of my favorites, "Don't you know it's bad luck to be superstitious?" This album is truly amazing

I just got back from seeing Blanche play last night in Detroit (this was my second time seeing them) and I was impressed enough that I decided it was finally time to buy their album and see what they were all about in the studio.

I have to say that they are a band that needs to be seen live to be fully appreciated... but that is not a knock at this album at all. Merely a testament to the power of their live show.

The album itself is still very good... full of haunting melodies, hypnotically droning twanginess, and lush soundscapes. "Do You Trust Me?", "Jack On Fire", and "Who's To Say" are all stand-out tracks (with the last of the three featuring some guitar work from Blanche's friend Jack White of The White Stripes).

Perhaps the greatest thing about the album, however, is the gorgeously understated breathy vocals of bass player Tracee Miller. Angelicly coy, she provides the perfect compliment to Dan Miller's commanding storytelling.

I was first exposed Blanche when I saw them open for Franz Ferdinand at Roseland in NYC. Most opening bands are pretty god-awful, and the first opening act (The Evaporators?) was just that. But Blanche was incredible. They looked rather eccentric and had a thick, pretty, layered sound and a talented vocalist.

I bought the album when I found it for four dollars (used) at a record shop and expected to be blown away again. It turns out that Blanche is one of those bands that sounds better live than in the studio. However, this album is still pretty damn good. It opens with "Who's to Say", an intriguing song about a consumptive man lusting after a girl, complete with layered-country guitar work and pedal-steel supplements. "Do You Trust Me" is melodically lovely but lyrically a little trite. "Superstition" and "Bluebird" are both nice enough, but the highlights of the album are "So Long Cruel World" and "Jack on Fire". The former crackles with manic energy trapped in dark, theatrical guitarwork. "Jack on Fire" is a fearsome song dominated by a churning chorus that really highlights Blanche's strengths.

If you enjoy dark, theatrical, dramatic music, then I'd definitely suggest getting this. It's a pretty rewarding combination of country-style guitar work and melody with dark, Cure-ish melancholy and drama.

As a longtime Goober and the Peas fan I have been waiting for new material for years from Dan (Goober) Miller and co. This new
project of his is well worth the wait. Haunting vocals courtesy of his wife take this recording even deeper into the strange and
weird world that Goober first created. Catchy, haunting country
folk punk that can be described as Johnny Cash meets the Violent
Femmes meet Trent Reznor. A great album from start to finish!

We saw Blanche opening for Wilco in Ann Arbor the other night and enjoyed them so much that I bought the CD in the lobby between shows.

Their music is unique, haunting, doleful and often times hilarious. Lead singer Dan Miller, formerly of legendary Detroit band Goober and the Peas (one of Jack White's (White Stripes) old bands) plays the long faced sad sack with a voice sometimes reminiscent of Stan Ridgeway. The songs all seem appropriate for some David Lynch movie soundtrack with their twangy baritone guitar riffs and pedal steel guitar.

The album is worth the price of admission for the clever and catchy "Do You Trust Me?"

I'd like to give the album five stars but it seems that that over-used rating is applied to every album that anyone likes. I think it should be used only on all-time classics and will offer Blanche my best possible rating.

about as good as it gets. like a cross of the cure and the velvet underground gone country. sadness, longing, hopelessness. all the reasons you had to hate life in the first place. really the best new album i have bought in a while. if you have forgotten malaise and self loathing, buy this album...and hope you never hope again.

Blanche is amazing. They are so different from any other band, hauntingly beautiful Southern Gothic. This cd is excellent, (as is their second one)very unique, and really takes you out of your ordinary life, into another time period. They are exceptional musicians, and I wish they had more cd's to buy!