Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
In the whimsical, bluesy breakup song that opens her second album, Grace Potter demands her lover hand over her J.J. Cale records.
Must have been an interesting relationship--not that I'm a big Cale fan, but he remains one of the few true originals of classic rock. Potter matches his soulfulness but lacks his knack for the stinging musical understatement, probably because she plays Hammond organ rather than electric guitar, but also because her vocal model is Bonnie Raitt, whose clear alto is the total opposite of Cale's alcoholic mumble. The keyboards cut the blues-rock with a hearty dose of gospel, and slow burners like "Ragged Company" benefit from the kind of dynamics that only soulmen can pull off at medium tempos. Next time, she might want to record in a studio, though. Despite all the obviously genuine feelings, the sound is often thin.
FIELD OF HEAVEN, 7/28, 6:00 pm
