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| Artist: | BROWNIE MARY |
| Title: | "NAKED" |
| Label: | Blackbird/Sire |
| Reviewed By: | David Merrill |
| Rating: |
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Vocalist Kelsey Barber, and guitarist Rich Jacques, met at
Bethany College in West Virginia. They started writing songs
together and formed “Brownie Mary” in 1993. Soon bass
player Ron Bissell, and drummer Mark Rajakovic, joined the band.
They take their name from Mary Rathbun, who earned the nickname
“Brownie” Mary when she brought marijuana laced brownies
to cancer and AIDS patients at San Francisco General Hospital. In 1994 they won The Next Big Thing/ Graffiti Rock Challenge, besting ninety- five other unsigned East Coast bands. They produced two albums previous to their major label debut, “Naked.” The two albums, “That’s Me” and “Who’s Your Daddy?,” sold about 15,000 copies each.October of 1995 marked another major breakthrough for “Brownie Mary,” when they were invited to perform at the Annual Democratic Saxophone Club Fund-Raiser. They met the President and Chelsea Clinton. Chelsea became a fan, asking for a T-shirt and CD. The president of The Blackbird Recording Company happened to be in the audience during their performance at the Philadelphia Music Conference. The PA system was faulty, so they had to play without the benefit of its amplification. Despite this handicap, they put on a good show. They signed with Blackbird shortly after, in March, 1997. “Like I Really Do” begins with feedback and a crash followed by frantically paced guitar. It’s about losing oneself in another person, living how they want you to. Then the realization comes of self loss, and changes must be made. The song closes with feedback. Funky distorted guitar opens the title track, “Naked.” It settles down into a regular rock type sound after the intro. The song has some lyrics that differ from the liner notes. The swearing doesn’t appear there. “Feeding off me/ Deconstruct me/ Until you see the truth I am/ Feeding off me/ Eyes that fuck me/ Cuts right through all that I am.” I wasn’t thrilled with the song when I first heard it, but it grew on me quickly. Kelsey Barber sings "I've been scarred since the day we said, ‘hello’/ We don’t let on/ B it’s something we both know,” on track three. It’s about a couple who lies out of fear. The song, “Something We Both Know,” is upbeat, despite the subject matter. “Butterfly” is a wonderful song of the rebirth of an individual in the face of disapproving parents. It’s the story of the misfit who finds that in growing up his differences help rather than hinder him. The song opens softly with just Kelsey’s voice and the guitar. The bass and drums come in after the first two lines. “Now he found no consolation, in his father’s words of gin/ Shadows fight in confrontation/ To be different is no sin/ And undercover/ He found his sunlight. . .” The song should appeal to anyone who has felt left out of the in crowd. There’s a wonderful guitar solo in “Say You Want Me.” The song is a real rocker that drags you in from the opening bagpipes and the guitar chords that follow. Kelsey’s voice resonates on the ear as she sings, “I try to hide from that little girl/ Wnting more just to feel I’m heard.” “I’ll Be the One,” is a reworking of the song “Bitch” from their first indie album, “That’s Me.” Barber’s voice reminds me of Joan Jett’s in this song, but it doesn’t get annoying like Jett’s can. The guitar work, particularly the bass line, recalls the music of “The Pretenders.” This is a strong rocker that doesn’t fool around. The volume goes back down a bit for “Wonderful Enough.” The song builds to a crescendo of voice and music, pushing its message, “And we wonder will it ever be enough/ And we laugh, and we cry/ But at least we know we tried/ Not perfect/ But wonderful enough.” It’s an uncommon love song, bringing forth the idea that love doesn’t have to be what the movies and all the other love songs say it is. “Blind Obsession” looks at the obsession that can lead one to see only style and surface things, caused by our fixation on fashion. It’s easy to fall into this trap. With all the media around us, it’s impossible to get away. “Here I hope to fall on your knees/ If this could be your one possession. . .” Next up is “Stop Me.” It’s a better than average rock tune, but the message is lost in its vagueness. It’s supposed to resonate with us. We’re to find our own message here. “Lessons” is another song that is unusual in its message, “Stand back and let me see/ These changes all around/ Stand back and let me breathe/ How am I gonna learn if you don’t let me fall down.” These few lines convey what so many of us feel in our relationships with parents and lovers. You don’t see the ideas in these songs often in rock music. In its quiet way, “Memphis” is perhaps the most interesting song here. It mentions “The X-Files” and takes from it part of the refrain, “I want to drive to Memphis/ The King will tell me what to do/ ‘Cause I believe he’s somewhere out there/ Don’t you?” The theme is of living in a small town and wondering what else might be out in the world - if there’s something better. The guitar work on “Great” is wonderful. Kelsey’s voice and the music at times remind me of “Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians.” “Silver” comes on with a smooth but over-dramatic flare, with a bluesy feel to it. Appropriately, it has the very downbeat message of settling for less than you need in a relationship. The melodrama seems to reinforce the final words of the song, “Maybe you’ll find silver/ Maybe you want gold/ Maybe all this emptiness is better left untold.” Maybe so. “Naked” has a lot of surprises on it. On the surface, it just seems like another rock album with female vocals. But the positive, well-written lyrics, and clean guitar playing, make it stand out. I liked most of the songs more each time I listened to them. |
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