Though clocking in at less than 38 minutes, rockabilly queen Rosie
Flores’ latest album is packed with retro-country attitude. She kicks
things off with a swingin’, swayin’ rendition of Memphis Minnie’s
“Chauffeur,” which has never sounded better. There’s tons of hiccupy
Brenda Lee sass on rockers like “This Little Girl’s Gone Rockin'” and
“This Cat’s in the Doghouse.” It’s great to hear a woman’s take on
Calvin Carter’s classic blues burner “I Ain’t Got You.” “Dark Enough at
Midnight” has a Tom Waits-meets-Angelo Badalamenti quality. The title
track grabs a page from Neko Case’s book with its prairie spaciousness
and magical realist lyrics.
An otherwise strong disc is marred by superfluous backing vocals.
“Halfway Home” could be a Springsteenish outlaw anthem if it weren’t
for the weak arrangement and trite male backup vocals. “Little Bells”
is hackneyed, with a too-slick vocal harmony by collaborator Jon
Langford, whose Welsh lilt doesn’t sit comfortably with Flores’ Texas
twang on the Conway-and-Loretta/Johnny-and-June-inspired “Who’s Gonna
Take Your Garbage Out.” Langford does yeoman’s work directing the Pine
Valley Cosmonauts in their backing duties, however. The guitars are
appropriately crunchy, the pedal steel is fittingly weepy and the
rhythm has a solid push to it. It’s a worthy addition to a string of
collaborations by the group that stretches back to 1994. —
Peggy Latkovich
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2009.
