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 Raw, random recordings, but very rewarding Oct 18, 2009
This album is a haphazardly appealing collection of acoustic songs, backed mostly by light percussion, accordion and bass. Lyrically, tales evoke the feel of The Band, with production stripped down to bare bones. Forget polish - there is little to be found here. But the songs are infectious, and blossom with each listen. Led by Ian & James Felice, vocals are quirky and smack in the middle of John Prine and old Bob Dylan. This CD grows, and grows and grows. GENRES: Mellow Rock, Folk Rock.
BUY IF YOU LIKE: John Prine, (old) Bob Dylan, The Band.
MUST HEAR TRACKS: "Little Ann," "Frankie's Gun," "St. Stephen's End," "Murder By Mistletoe."
CD Is Better Than Live Club Performance Sep 08, 2009
I actually bought this CD at one of their club performances. I enjoy the music much more from this CD, as it is not distorted by hyperamplification and excess volume. They were playing to an audience that liked the volume and didn't care about the words. I must say I did enjoy the energy these guys put into their live performance.
I can actually understand most of the words on the CD - important, as there are some real messages about history, our world and the human condition in Ian's lyrics.
I'd love to see them in an outdoor performance some day after they return from Europe. Maybe they will be able to afford a better sound system by then.
Back to this CD - This music is some of the best of the new Americana stuff that's flowing out these days - almost up to Carrie Rodriguez - which is about the highest compliment I can give a group.
 Heartland Gothic Jun 22, 2009
I don't know anything about the Felice Brothers. I haven't gone to their website, I'm not sure who plays what, who's singing, or even if they're really brothers, or doing a Ramones thing with their names. And guess what? It doesn't matter a bit, because this CD is all about the music.
What at first glance ("Little Ann") seems like whispery folk rock of the M. Ward school, the Brothers soon turn that notion on it's head with the Heartland/New Orleans hybrid tune "Greatest Show On Earth" (Sample lyric: 'Put your pistol in your purse/Cause we're going to Gettysburg').
The band whips up a musical stew that takes the best elements of heartland folk and combines them with a southern gothic feel that is at once familiar, yet somehow fresh, and is wholly American. The vocals tend to the Dylanesque, but are not imitative in any way, largely due to the song structure and the pure passion in the singer's voice.
There's so much to love about this album: the instrumentation is widely varied to fit the song--accordions, handclaps, and horns augment the traditional 'folk rock' elements of acoustic guitar, bass, keyboard, drums. The vocals (more than one Brother sings lead) are uniformly good, fitting the tune at hand...gentle and elegaic at times, raucous and demanding at others. And the songs themselves are some of the best I've heard in recent memory. The album even boasts my favorite line of the past year--"I hurt him so damn bad I had to hide in Jersey." That line alone paints a picture of a dark America that we can all recognize and be glad we don't actually live in.
This album is close to brilliant.
Fastest in the West Jun 17, 2009
This cd is in high demand. it took a bit to actually find one. But I did. and I am happy. Thanks
0 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Not great May 06, 2009
I have all Felice Brothers CD's, "The Felice Brothers" Tonight The Arizona" and the obscure "The Adventures of the Felice Brothers". This new cd dosen't even come close. There might be only two songs that I would put on a best of cd. They are "Cooperstown" and "Boy From St Lawerence".
I was totally dissapointed that Simone the drummer dosen't sing more. He has the best voice and sings some of their better songs in the past. "Don't Wake TheScarecrow", " Mercy", "Radio Song".
They are a great live band and I have seen many of these new songs live. I feel this cd is ok at best, nothing comparable to the past. If you are new to the band, try their "The Felice Brothers" first to get a better feel for the band.
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