Customer Reviews

Salesman's Girl

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

 

 

If Sheryl Crow hadn't lost her street cred in the transition to Classic Rock postergirl, she might still be recording discs like Laura Minor's debut. Minor's rootsy music covers much of the same musical ground as Crow's -- rock 'n' roll energy (with a sweet powerpop edge), country blue twang, folk introspection -- but without the overexposed media superstardom and commercial profligacy that's become Crow's stock-in-trade.

Minor has grown her lyrics from poems, with imagery often substituting for straight-ahead exposition. But even in their initial opacity, her words are lyrical, rather than prose broken to fit a meter, or poetry stretched into song. Her mood is often rendered most clearly in the melodies and musical backings crafted by the band and producer David Lowery (ex-Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker).

The baritone guitar and anguished vocal of the title track provide forlorned underlining of a salesman's broken dreams. It's the same sort of power conjured by Libbi Bosworth's appraisal of her own father's sad-sack life on "My Old Man." Similarly, the longing of "American Girls" is buoyed by overlayed rhythm guitars, an ebullient melody and Jeff Laitaille's drumming. The blend of full-wattage electrics and acoustic strumming is worthy of the song title's pedigree (i.e., Tom Petty's "American Girl").

Minor can crank up the rockabilly sass of Wanda Jackson (though, clearly, Jackson never sang lyrics with the metaphysical edge of "Can't Keep Giving Away My Light"), or settle into a bluesy power ballad, edging towards Janis Joplin, while retaining the fragility of Kelly Willis. This is an accomplished debut, even without noting that Minor's only been working on music for a little over a year!

3-1/2 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional ratings.

There are so many young female singer-songwriters working in the alt-country genre these days that it's easy to them get lost in the shuffle. Laura Minor's problem is that she's not nearly as good a songwriter as Patti Griffin, nor as good a singer as Tift Merritt or Allison Moorer, nor as intense as Kathleen Edwards, nor does she have the pedigree of Caitlin Cary. She gamely gives it her best shot, aided by excellent production work from Cracker's David Lowery. Ultimately, though, what carries an album like this is the songs. And though "Salesman's Girl" contains a decent title track and some other spirited country rockers, many of the tracks are just not distinctive enough to allow her to truly stand out. Minor posseses a fine voice, and next time out she might be advised to record some cover songs to juice things up.

Overall, a passable country rock album that ultimately fails to break out from the pack.

Laura Minor's music is rooted in country. "Lonliness" is a pumping country # about a lonely who gets married. "American Girls" is an electric track that sounds like a good theme for a tv show, "Hey, American girls, we've got so much love to give." "Don't Come to Me" starts off slow and ends a bit more loudly, "We were fan blades of sex, muscle & bone; What is left but grief & the wind?" The title track with cowriter Jared Flamm is a midtempo #, "My heart beats too fast for the world." "Sink Back" is an odd lyric with a bland melody that's most attractive aspect is that it's loud, "Sink back into your mother & take me with you." "A cold cold wind's a comin', Godspeed to the drunks, Tell the world that I died for love," sounds like a low-brow follow up to Skeeter Davis' "The End of the World," only without a distinctive melody. The most successful track, "Can't Keep Giving Away My Light" sounds like Highway 61-era Dylan with its rocking ramble. "As Close to Sacred" has some interesting words, "Saint Francis of Assissi made you cry; I was married to the ocean, you were married to the sky." "If I Never Love" is a plaintive little tune. "Rust of the Carolinas" has a lot of specific imagery like blue jays and kudzu, although I'm not quite sure why. Laura's voice is nice, expressive, and floats nicely in the arrangements. There are two weaknesses with the CD: the first is the music which is not very original or imaginative and the second is the lyrics which show great imagination, but are too oblique to communicate. If she could combine her lyrical complexity with some melodies that stick around like Randy Weeks' great Hightone CD "Madeline," she'll have a place to go. For now "Salesman's Girl" is more product than music. Taxi.

Laura Minor and her band hail from my town and I discovered them at a local band showcase that's usually a boring parade of lackluster acts. Minor got my rapt attention right away with her sweet, soulful, but twangy voice and her band's tight and flawless playing--what a discovery! This album is a tasty blend of alt-country rock, enlivened by solid and innovative guitar and bass work and Minor's opaque but compelling lyrics, and buoyed along by that incredible voice. Years from now, if there's justice in this world, I hope to be saying "I heard them play way back when..."

The artist is in the mold of contemporary coffee-shop-PA-friendly Country with a pleasant yet insistent lead vocal, often competing with the unnecessarily aggressive guitars masking some very agreeable chants. Should have kept it simple on this collection for a modestly-sized, healthful neighborhood haunt.

I think slowing down the tempos and keeping the rhythm guitar on the beat would have helped; pushing Laura's voice up just a tad would have made a big difference, especially in standout tracks like the title tune; Don't Come To Me; and the superb meeting of panoramic lyric and the lilting lead vocal line on the meditative beat ballad, Rust In The Carolinas.

Haven't heard the CD yet, never heard of her (them) until last night when I saw her and her band open up for the Blasters. First of all, that says a lot right there that the Blasters would have them opening, but you really can't go wrong with any Hightone artist. She has a great voice, great delivery, and a great band. This is rock'n'roll. Since this is her only lp, I'll give it 4 stars based on the show, which was most of the lp. I should have bought it last night, they were selling it...