The OutSkirts - Unraveled

Issue #8                                                                                                                   Jun. '99

As we welcome June and the unofficial start of Summer, we are excited to be bringing more music your way. Here to tell you about the disc Unraveled by The OutSkirts is our Guest Reviewer Matt Springer. Matt is the Co-editor/Writer/Jack of all Parades over at Pop-Culture-Corn - THE online e-zine that covers the culture of the millennium as it happens. Matt is going to be lending us his ears and insight every now and then as he helps us to burrow further into the ever-expanding Indie field.
With that, I turn the page over to Matt Springer;

Try to imagine the sound--smooth maple syrup cascading over warm pancakes. A cold sip of lemonade sliding down your throat on a hot August day. The Andrews Sisters meet R.E.M. with some Allman Brothers mixed in. Gorgeous harmonies, inspired instrumentation and a smooth, occasionally sinister vibe.

The OutSkirts are all these things and more. A quintet of musicians based out of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Unraveled is their second album and it will immediately draw you in and keep you there for the long haul. Finding this band is like discovering a delicate tea cup amidst the edgy, rough ruins of indie rock--they're almost too beautiful for their own good.

This record is a lazy Sunday afternoon in the middle of July. You know the kind of day I'm talking about. Occasionally you're inspired to engage in some witty banter, or even take a walk around the neighborhood, but most of the day is wasted away on the couch in front of the TV. Hell, you've worked hard all week--you've earned a blissfully evaporated day. And you've definitely earned "Too Much Like Sunday," a sexy meditation on the aimlessness of wasted afternoons and the ambiguity of faith, and "Family Romance," a perky (and I mean that in the best possible way) commentary on the randomness of love and familial connections.

Unraveled also displays the OutSkirts' amazing capacity for balancing perfectly packaged pop gems with longer jam-based tunes--and making both work equally well. When they do get into a jam, such as on "All Over Town," the solos actually have a beginning, middle and end, unlike most jam bands who aimlessly wander all over the song until they have to take another drag of their joint. I've never been a fan of excessive guitar noodling, but Alice Templeton's licks had me captivated throughout.

Trust me on this one, folks: this isn't one of those "three great songs and they're out" indie releases. It's a solid gold gem from top to bottom-- songwriting, performance, vocals, vibe. The OutSkirts are as precious as a lazy Sunday afternoon, and listening to Unraveled is a just about perfect way to waste one away.

- Matt Springer

The OutSkirts - Unraveled
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