Bad band name? Check. Bad album name? Check. Bad album? Sorry, but
that one is not getting checked off. While many recent additions to the
world of folk music think that all you need to be an Americana artist
is an acoustic guitar and a bottle of whiskey, the Horse’s Ha produce
nuanced and soothing takes on backwoods traditions. Of the Cathmawr
Yards offers the sort of wispy, mournful dirges and lazy-summer
ballads you’ve come to expect from Bonnie “Prince” Billy. These tunes
come complete with sorrowful fiddle lines, dusty upright bass,
shuffling drum beats and even jazzy undertones. The fact that singers
Janet Beveridge Bean and James Elkington harmonize with casual
perfection also helps. The former is like a diamond-in-the-rough
nightclub singer, while the latter comes with the bass-heavy cadence of
Bill Callahan. They add melodic complexity to well-orchestrated tunes,
making Of the Cathmawr Yards not only pleasing at first listen,
but well worth return spins. Now, with a solid album logged, maybe they
can work on the whole naming thing. — Whelihan
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2009.
