Neko Case & Her Boyfriends includes: Neko Case (vocals, tambourine); Ron Sexsmith (vocals, acoustic guitar); Travis Good (electric, tenor, baritone, & 8-string guitars, mandolin, fiddle); Evan Johns (electric & steel guitars); Brian Connelly (electric & baritone guitars); Don Kerr (tenor guitar, cello, drums); Joel Trueblood (drums); Kelly Hogan (background vocals).
Principally recorded at Miller Block, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in January 1999 & March 1999.
Neko Case is a Canada-based country singer who got her start (as a drummer) in music in the rock band Maow. But she'd always wanted to pursue her love of country music--and went after it with a vengeance. Case was not weaned on pop/mainstream country: her voice has the back-country soul of Loretta Lynn (Patty Loveless is a good comparison, too). Her band is in-line with her voice: tight and crisp but with no Nashville gloss or pop-polish, featuring a lean, walloping honky-tonk twang right out of the '60s Buck Owens sound. Though her style is traditional, Case lyrically takes no prisoners--the assertive "Mood to Burn Bridges" tells busy-bodies where to get off, and the smoldering "Twist the Knife" vents--with elegance--her rage at a former lover. "Thrice All American" is a chillingly catchy anthem to/about Takoma, Washington. Those seeking a modern take on roots-oriented country sung by a classic voice, seek out Neko Case.
Professional Reviews
Q (6/00, p.103) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...This veers from what sounds like Brenda Lee or Patsy Cline outtakes to more inventive tunes such as 'Porchlight' where her eerie, overdubbed falsetto choruses alternate with a standard country verse..."
CMJ (2/21/00, p.5) - "...[her] talent is so huge that it pops her out of the alt-country pigeonhole; she's an equal-opportunity threat to all comers, whatever their genre."
Mojo (Publisher) (5/00, p.105) - "...A mesmerizing and haunting record....Showing how uncomfortable and edgy country music can be..."
NME (Magazine) (4/22/00, p.40) - 7 out of 10 - "...A great stroke of post-alt-country near-genius....100% all-croonin' an' a-strummin' Tammy Wynette-plays-the-Grand-Olde-Opry waxwork of suffering and soul-bearing becomes a joy to behold..."
