 |
 Caught in the Carousel - "There will be music despite everything"
|
The Chapin Sisters
Two
Independent
This is the second album by the Chapin Sisters I've reviewed. Have I really been doing this reviewing thing for that long? And why am I still doing it for free? Anyway, I like these girls. I like their sort of nihilistic with a cherry on top lyrics and their sweet old-timey voices, almost Appalachian sounding but not quite because they're too sophisticated. Don't be fooled by the sweet as apple pie vocals—these girls have edge. I would not be surprised to learn that under those gauzy gowns they seem to favor, there's a tiny glass vial of digitalis or arsenic strapped to their inner thighs.
The sisters hail from some top-shelf musical lineage, Harry is their Uncle and Tom is their dad and yet they seem to have beaten their own path to a unique style of vocalizing and writing. Most of 2010 was spent touring as back-up vocalists for She and Him. A good match, I think, despite the fact that both Abigail and Lily are better vocalists than Zooey Deschanel. I believe the end result was very appealing.
The first cut, "Sweet Light," a part acapella choral-styled number sounds a bit like what I imagine Druids sing in the woods to herald the arrival of spring. It's very nice, and very unusual. I love "Paradise" too. Most of the instrumentation on the album is subtle and simple. The vocals are the focus, as they should be. "Palm Tree" is also lovely. The best thing about this album, though, is that not one cut is like another and the sound in general is not like any other out there. Check it out.
—The Vinyl Princess
www.thevinylprincess.com
Can we help you find something?
Click for a Chapin Sisters station
