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"It wouldn’t do for us all to like the same," my mum always says. And she’s right. I mention this because Makin' History from singer-songwriter Jennifer Getz really isn’t my cup of tea, but then not many of the crop of women (or men for that matter) with acoustic guitars that have sprung up in recent years have been. There’s a lot of competition out there, but there’s little on this release to rise above the crowd. And to make matters worse, Getz isn’t exactly blessed with the sweetest of voices -- it’s just too nasally and whiny for my liking.
Still, that’s not to say that Getz can’t write the odd decent song. The opening Me In Your Bag is promising, with Getz's voice at her most yearning and the band at their most animated. Keep On Coming has a lovely, lilting melody, and is by far the best track on this album. But too much of this set plods on in the way that country rock seems to: a slow 4-4 beat, some workmanlike bass, and a few piano flourishes here and there to augment that acoustic guitar. On and on it goes, never in a hurry, never really getting anywhere, like a slow moving plough in an un-furrowed field. But then as my mum says…
However, even allowing for Makin' History operating outside my personal taste, I must confess to feeling little short of despair when, on Rambler, Getz does one of those 'whoo-hoo' yelps that seems designed to signify some great free-spirited moment where the singer is just unable to conceal her delight at how this track really rocks (in the country sense of the word, of course). Unfortunately, these yelps generally come across as a calculated outburst because, hey, that’s what you do on these types of songs. And I hate them. Honestly, I’d hurl a rock at my cd player if I wasn’t so busy pulling a face that resembles someone overdosing on sherbet.
Still, most of this album is inoffensive, but whilst Keep On Coming might just stand above the ever-increasing plethora of earnest singer/songwriters, unfortunately little else here does. As Getz herself sings on Leave It Gone, "I’m praying I won’t be seen in a crowded room."
She might well get her wish.
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