Nocturnal by The Moaners
To say that Melissa Swingle's voice isn't what one would call “pretty” would be an understatement. Some might even go so far as to describe it with the sort of backhanded compliments reserved for overselling a blind date prospect: "Oh, it's got a great personality and a fantastic sense of humor, too." But ever since her days fronting off-kilter country swingers Trailer Bride, Swingle has willfully embraced her voice's quirks: the hitch in its giddyup when she reaches for certain notes, the way it curls around specific sounds like a three-legged cat, the world-weariness its smoke-laden drift carries.
On Nocturnal, The Moaners' third and most varied album, Melissa Swingle (ex-Trailer Bride) and drummer Laura King (Bat Fangs, Speed Stick) preside over a set of songs as idiosyncratic as their frontwoman's delivery. It's evident right from the opener, "Humid Air," which gleefully commingles Swingle's slow-handed slide work with a surprising drum-machine beat. The presence of Johnny Cash band member Earl Poole Ball on piano is something more expected, but The Moaners make sure to keep him on his toes. He rollicks with the ivories during the bluesy bank heist goings-on of "Cowboy Bob," while the ramshackle "Raggedy" features Ball in a more contemplative and relaxed mood.
Nocturnal brims with "cautionary tales of bad whiskey" (as Swingle calls them on "Bartender's Lament"), but even those show some unexpected range, from the bemused request for a telephone breathalyzer on "Ramblin'" to the despondent narrator in the traditional "Moonshiner." "If whiskey don't kill me / I don't know what will," Swingle sings. And whether she's offering some haunting, arcing fragments of slide guitar during "Barbarian in China" or intoning a quaint and plainspoken lullaby in "Little Man," Swingle never sounds out of her element. Nocturnal is the work of a band comfortable in its own skin. Conventional definitions be damned; that's a beautiful thing to hear.
Tracklist
| 1. | Humid Air | 4:46 |
| 2. | Cowboy Bob (Ballad of Peggy Jo Tallas) | 4:32 |
| 3. | Raggedy Tune | 2:29 |
| 4. | Ramblin' | 3:16 |
| 5. | Moonshiner | 5:01 |
| 6. | Barbarian in China | 3:30 |
| 7. | Blue Moon (Cold Hard Stone) | 3:41 |
| 8. | Bartender's Lament | 2:52 |
| 9. | Happiness Is the Road | 2:29 |
| 10. | Little Man | 3:18 |
Credits
2010 Melissa Swingle under exclusive license to Yep Roc, LLC.
All songs by Melissa Swingle and Laura King © 2010, BMI except: #3, 6, 7, 8 & 10 by Melissa Swingle © 2010, BMI and #5 (traditional)
Produced by Jenks Miller and recorded by Nick Peterson at Track and Field.
Additional overdubs recorded by Jenks Miller at The Chateau.
Piano recorded by Jenks Miller at Old Pillow.
Mixed by Jenks Miller except for #6, 7 & 10 produced, mixed, recorded by The Moaners at Hungry Dog Studios, NC.
License
All rights reserved.Tags
The Moaners are a Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based rock band signed to Yep Roc Records. In 2004, Melissa Swingle's band Trailer Bride broke up, and she formed The Moaners with drummer Laura King, formerly of the Chapel Hill band Grand National. The band is often compared to the The White Stripes, as they are also a two-piece and employ a similar garage rock, bluesy style.