Published on Apr 11, 2000
Whew. Where do we start on this one? OK. First off, Shannon
Curfman is the best new blues/rock voice I’ve heard in a long time.
That’s not hyperbole, that’s simple truth. She sings like a
roadhouse angel after too many Marlboros, she plays guitar like a
demon, and she’s just damned fun to listen to. I’ve got to think
that she’s having a lot of fun with her new-found success, but I’ll
bet she hasn’t bought a new car yet.
See, she’s not old enough to drive. Shannon Curfman is 14.
In a world where the Nine-Headed Britney Aguilera N’Sync Beast
rules the teenybopper airwaves, a real teenager has chops you will
not
believe. I admit it, I thought it was a marketing ploy, and
I picked
Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions up as a freebie when I joined a
new record club. Talk about good luck – from the first track, I was
hooked.
Curfman’s voice is rich, strong, and powerful, incredibly mature
sounding for her age, reminiscent of a cross between Amanda
Marshall, Tammi Terrell, and Bonnie Raitt. Her guitar is flat
incredible, switching from slide blues to Texas roadhouse to rock
to country-blues without a break. Her backing musicians and
collaborators, including fellow under-20 rocker Jonny Lang, are
exemplary, the sound on this CD is seamless and fluid but still
rough enough to leave the blue in the blues. At the risk of
sounding redundant,
Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions is
incredible
.
All the tracks on this CD are good, but commended for your
special attention is the gutsy blues/soul of “Few And Far Between,”
shades of Raitt woven in with the Hammond organ in the background;
the roots blues of “No Riders”; the wistful lover’s words of “If
You Change Your Mind” (and did we mention this girl hasn’t
dated yet?); the gritty rock of “Playing With
Fire”…forget it, it’s all good. This is my pick for Best
Album of 2000, at least so far.
The single cover on the CD is an interesting choice. Curfman
handles The Band’s “The Weight” relatively well, though it’s the
only track on the CD on which her vocals waver slightly. She does
make it her own song, though, rather than just a rote cover, which
in my opinion is always an improvement.
I feel like I’m repeating myself in this review a lot, but let
me say it again: Shannon Curfman is incredible, and
Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions is the best album of 2000 at
this point. Run, don’t walk, and buy this disc.