TERROR AT THE OPERA
Snake Bird Blue
TERROR AT THE OPERA might be guitarist and vocalist Gretchen Gonzales, from Detroit all-female rock quartet SLUMBER PARTY, and vocalist and accordionist Faith Gazic, but some of the music on this record sounds like it could have been overheard at a country fair a century ago. The two voices sing in unison far more than harmonize, which adds to the singalong feel. "Lovely Day" starts off with an enthusiastic nursery rhyme-cum-bestiary, which finds the singers enthusiastically namechecking the beasts of the field and birds of the air. After this sunny, disarming start, the record gets more and more haunting. The studio acoustics give the two main instruments - augmented by occasional synth, rhythm box and percussion- an appealingly rough, warm sound. It feels like the two musicians are invoking the ghosts of long dead parlor tunes, drinking songs and sea shanties. "I knew with your blood on my hands/I didn't stand a chance," they sing on "Snakes And Moths", a brief portal into a sinister world populated with mythical creatures, and where the glass and wine converse. While "Build Your House" sounds like a hitherto unimagined meeting between The McGarrigle sisters and THE LONESOME ORGANIST, "Back On Eeee" recalls the sort of song Lou Reed gave Moe Tucker - or maybe a Phil Spector girl group, albeit with his Wall Of Sound replaced by accordion and raw, staccato guitar.

Mike Barnes, The Wire #246, 08/04