Audio By Carbonatix
Three-quarters of the way through a compilation that’s been billed as a locals-only/females-only album, a voice that’s clearly not a girl’s appears. That voice belongs to Chris Corwin (no, Chris is not short for Christina), who, last time we checked, is totally a guy. We didn’t investigate to see whether Corwin wants a vagina or not (that would be called sexual harassment). Instead, we read the liner notes penned by Tempe-based singer-songwriter (and album brainchild) Bri White, who clears things up when she writes, “We don’t all have vaginas or maybe we don’t all want the ones we have . . . Maybe this isn’t so much a ‘girl’ comp as it is a group of people associated with the same state.” Gotcha. Then we listened, for a second and third time, to this 16-song, 36-minute CD that’s mostly dominated by songs with solo accompaniment, spoken-word items, and found sounds. Everything sounds good, and our faves include Becca Dang’s collage remaking of the “Hickory, Dickory, Dock” nursery rhyme, “Under the Covers” by Ashfeeled (sounds like a moody soundscape), and Amber White’s lo-fi and sometimes dark piano/voice performance “Independents.” These chicks (and boy) rock on this effort.
