Eileen Rose - Long Shot Novena

Often considered as mavericks, the plight of the folksinger is their undying urge to let loose of all those overly articulate, poetic feelings bottled up inside. You've got your political and personal Bob Dylans and Ani Difrancos, whose music and words can take you to an altogether unique place. Then you have your Tom Waitses and Johnny Cashes (He's more folk than country to me, ok?) who take you back, let you revist memories and feelings you've already encountered. Neither is better than the other, and each are poignant and vibrant with their tellings of life; Real and unglossy, unfettered and uncut. Eileen Rose, much to her credit, falls into both of the aforementioned categories, as she revisits old wounds and dissects new ones, all over the tumultous twang of steel guitars and Joplin-esque harmonica solos. The whole album is literally on big broken-down back porch for Rose's wheezy and Newport-addled voice to swing on. A very melancholy, raw record, Long Shot Noevena is bluesy, folksy, and much like bed-head in the sense that it cannot be bothered with loopy backing sounds and the twinkling shine of modern-day pop-scholck necessity. This does not make the album faultless, however. The title track has femme Bob Dylan vocals and scratchy funereal cadence, yet it acts like green logs- No fires, only fuming. "See How I Need You" and "Big Dog" are sweet and loping, sad and plodding, but there seems to be a great supression of something deeper, which only truly comes out in "For Marlene", a story-song about a woman in some forlorn state; The song is truly painful and undilluted, mostly due to Rose's unabashed croaky voice and it's tragic-yet-euphoric moan. On "Wheels Go By" and "Snake", Rose truly has fun with cowpoke melodies and tumbleweed beats. Sample snakey lyric: "Got a snake in my hip/ Shimmy 'til I shed my skin". These songs make the CD more than background music yet not enough to be the forefront of any event. "White Dove's Awake" is glorious in colors of sensuality and steel guitar punctures, while "Two In One" isn't much more than a fizzy hoe-down. Far from dissapointing, Eileen Rose's sophomore album is a great effort and gnarly, original piece that challenges all the pop and electronic-driven stuff out there without alienating anyone away. At best Rose is soothing and cathartic, and at worse she's background music, but considering the fact that 95 percent of the music on the radio today is basically background, then Rose is doing well. Let's hope to see her on satellite radio soon, or at least opening for her kindred spirit, Mr. Tom Waits. [www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com]