Customer Reviews

My Shirt Looks Good on You

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Catie Curtis is truly an incredible singer/songwriter. I have seen Catie Curtis is concert around 7 or 8 times and I am yet to be disappointed. I consider her my all-time favorite performer...she is truthful, passionate, and makes the stage glow. Her albums have always been wonderful, but My Shirt Looks Good on You is the most successful at capturing some of the glow that she has on stage. My Shirt is a lot different from previous albums, more playful and danceable, but still captures Catie's truthfulness and melodic voice. The new songs are more folk-pop than she has ever written before, which adds a great mix to her concert playlist along with Catie's previous tunes.

"Jane", "Patience", "Kiss that Counted" and "Run" are all very poppy...but quite enjoyable. The album was recorded an a old church turned recording studio and you can hear the deep acoustics most on these songs. I love that she can write folk music that is both lyrically moving and danceable.

"Elizabeth", "Don't Lay Down", "Sugar Cane", and "Love Takes the Best of Us" are true Catie. Each of these songs weaves a story and by the end of the three or four minutes you are experiencing the feelings described first hand.

Getting right down to it. Buy this album. See her in concert. Catie deserves all the success that she earns. 'My Shirt Looks Good On You' is sure to put you in a good mood and convince you that Catie Curtis is the most incredibly performer you have heard in years.

On Catie Curtis' 6th release, counting her 2 Mongoose releases "Dandelion" and "From Years to Hours" -- which I still am searching for copies of -- she moves out of the box from her previous releases, exploring somewhat new territory. (Her rendition of "Silent Night" on the "Snow Angels" 1996 CD is on my Christmas music rotation this year!) The CD opens with "Run" which has Catie's buttery guitar chiming to a slow rhumba-like beat. "Kiss That Counted" is a great pop tune as she sings that this kiss is "the one that mattered, that shattered my defenses." Catie's cracking vocals highlight "Jane." "Patience" is a driving tune, one of my favorites on the CD, "And down in the graveyard, they're listening to the underground; they're the only ones that ever learned to calm down." As near social consciousness as Catie's gotten, "Love Takes the Best of You" is about a child from Cambodia given up for adoption by its mother so the child could have a better life -- breathtaking. For me, "Bicycle Named Heaven" is not Catie's most original melody, a song about unrequited love. Michael Eisenstein's hot electric guitar rips through the title tune with Catie's scorching rocker, "Love & happiness, that's my condition." This track blows the roof off the CD & makes this a must-buy! Hot sax and Catie's bluesy empassioned vocal make "Don't Lay Down" shine. "Elizabeth" is a love song with a music box melody. "Now" is a great psychological study in dysfunction about someone who does everything they can to break up a relationship because they want it so much and are sure they can't have it; it's complex and so real. "Walk Along the Highway" is a ballad about Rhonda Lee who stays in an abusive relationship. If John Fogerty wrote a folk song, he'd be envious of Catie's "Sugar Cane," a swamp-flavored Louisiana tune, "From Thibodaux to Raceland, there's fire in the fields." Catie's vocal is moving on "Hush," I don't know why the world does turn; I don't think I'll ever learn." The CD ends with an idea song, "The Big Reprise." Catie examines the Christian notion of atonement that casts God as a bloodthirsty Dracula by requiring sacrifice of the Son, "What kind of God? What kind of friend? Did God let Jesus die again?" This one will raise eyebrows, but is well done. "Shirt" shows Catie feeling confident, being a bit adventurous, yet playing to enough of her strengths to keep her fans happy. This is a great growth CD & I love to hear her rock! Enjoy!

I recently had the opportunity to see Catie on her current tour. I'd heard a few songs from this album a year ago, when she opened for Dar Williams, and have to say that I was NOT disappointed. Although I agree that several of her older songs have a stronger "edge" and more of a theme of social awareness, these songs have their own beauty. It seems to me that as artists write more and grow in their talents, they a) say what they need to say "socially" and b) explore with different and bigger sounds as they're able, as success and progress enable them to do so. Maybe Catie's said her piece on some of the more cutting social issues; maybe she's moving into a new phase of life herself, with a less adversarial approach to those issues. Her songs have always seemed to be a commentary on what's happening in and around her (which the stories she tells on stage confirm), so my assumption is that as she grows and changes through the years, so does her music.

Regardless of the bigger, more produced sounds, I've thoroughly enjoyed the new album. "Patience," "Don't Lay Down," "Elizabeth," "The Big Reprise" and "Bicycle Named Heaven" are my favorites. I also urge everyone to see Catie live if you have a chance; her shows are packed with energy, and you get more than a glimpse into the terrific spirit that abounds from this musician. Go Catie!

I will always believe that her beautifully crafted more intimate material from her first two releases were her best work, but this CD is in and of itself a very fine effort. There are some cuts that are obvious leftovers 'Roses", the least impressive of CC's releases(still good, mind you, but numbe r4 in the Catie Curtis Catalogue). Kiss that Counted and the title cut might well get CC some well deserve airplay, as they are tunes that fit well into the new breed of Progressive Rock radio stations. All in all, I would say that this CD should satisfy most of CC's loyal fan base while opening the door to some new listeners, and, with any luck open the doors to bonafide stardom for Ms. Curtis. Don't worry, we're not talking VH-1 Diva stardom here(thank goodness!!), but perhaps on the recognition level of a Shawn Colvin or Jewel. Go Catie. P.S.-I witnessed her first live performance of her new stuff at a free outdoor gig at Boston's City Hall Plaza and she packed some major energy into her tunes. From what I saw(and heard), she is a "must see" performer.

Catie's latest album may leave some of her earlier fans a little disappointed in it's move toward what is essentially very good commercial pop music. Artists like Catie need to grow and to me this album is a natural progression on from , the excellent , Crash Course In Roses. I didn't know anything about Catie until in 1999 Mary Chapin Carpenter brought Catie to the UK as support , so being curious about this new name went out and bought Crash Course , and having loved that album went and bought the other two as well. Catie appeared in Aberdeen , Scotland in what she proudly told us was her first gig ever outside of the USA - she earned a lot of new fans that night.

I strongly urge you to listen to this album , which I found to be very good and gets better with every listen.

Catie Curtis has created another very soulful and moving album with her newest. Very much like 'Crash Course in Roses,' this album combines her very powerful voice with her quiet guitar rythyms. Some of the songs are more open than previous works ('Jane' and 'Elizabeth') while others capture that love of the country that she finds herself traveling. Her music has turned from a very heavy folk twang to more of a storyteller to music. This is by far one of her best albums to date.

I picked up this CD having heard a blurb on NPR about it. Ms. Curtis has a truly expressive singing style. My favorite song is 'Suger Cane' which captures the rural drama of good wage jobs that damage the environment.

Good mix of electric and acoustic on the album. Good band and variety on this album. All songs sung with passion!

This CD was obviously a victim of bad timing (it was released in September 2001) because it has not gotten the play it deserves. The first spin through this CD left me wondering whether I would completely "connect" with the songs and then I left it in my CD changer for about a week on random play and I found myself enjoying every song more and more, the more times I heard it. You will not be disappointed by this CD. Rumor has it that she also has an all-accoustic CD available only on her website.

MY SHIRT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU is Catie Curtis's most electric--and electrifying--recording thus far. Previous CD's have been lyrical and well-crafted, but this new one consistently contains more spunk, more fire, and more rock. Rollicking songs like "Kiss That Counted," "My Shirt Looks Good On You," and "Now" are interspersed with her trademark melodic upbeat folk tunes and meaningful lyrics. The percussion is foot-tapping good, the guitar licks on "Sugar Cane" are great, and the backup band's contributions, including horns on some tracks, round it all out nicely.

Curtis's voice reminds me of a cross between Suzanne Vega and Jennifer Warnes--flawed, quirky, powerful. This is a CD that grows on you with each listen. I give it my highest recommendation.

--Lori L. Lake writes lesbian fiction and is currently at work on a novel about a pop/folk music tour.

If you are all about the lyrics and simply want the music to fit the words and be a little unexpected - get this and have a good time.