AltWeeklies Wire » Music » Reviews

Despite Kookiness, Mark's New CD Delivers Great Tunes

By Robert Wiersema
Monday Magazine | July 22, 2004
The bastard love child of John Prine and Patsy Cline, Carolyn Mark returns with an album that, while occassionally frustrating, is one of the finest I’ve heard this year. Mark suffers from an undergraduate goofiness that wears very thin very quickly (“The Overture” and “Outro/Credits” are distracting, and a misguided way of framing an album, while “Hangover” is four minutes of my life I’m never going to get back), but she’s blessed with an easy lyrical sense and a tight musical quality that makes it easy to overlook the occasional daftness. Mark is poet of the bottle and the bawd, with a keen human insight that fleshes out songs like “Chantal and Leroy,” and a spareness that allows for a wealth of meaning in a smattering of words. Other highlights include “Not A Doll” (with the catchy refrain of, “everything happens either not at all or at the same time”) and the rollicking “Yanksgiving.” The New Best Friends provide tight backing, with a shambling, rootsy looseness that doesn’t overlook the subtleties of the writing. It’s a winner.
Tags: Carolyn Mark, The Pros and Cons of Collaboration

Monday Magazine

Founded in 1975 to provide a critical voice in Victoria's political and cultural communities, Monday Magazine continues to shake British Columbia's conservative capital city with tell-it- like-it-is features and reviews. Targeting educated, active adults and Victoria's growing youth market, Monday...
More »
Contact for Reprint Rights
  • Market Served: Metropolitan Area
  • Address: 818 Broughton St., Victoria, BC V8W 1E4
  • Phone: (250) 382-6188
www.mondaymag.com