Folk-rock is strictly hit or miss anymore. Since the explosion of Ani Difranco onto the music world, it seems as if girls who sing folk are either going to sound like her or they don't. It's as simple as that. Always willing to give this group at least a listen, that stereotype seems more and more often to prove itself true, at least to my ears.
Allison Russell and Trish Klein make up the duo known as Po' Girl and while at least half of them closely resemble Difranco in voice and inflection it is at least without the aggression and at times forced offensiveness the latter brings to mind.
They replace hostility and angrrr with a bluesy countrified flair that brings along with it a stockpile of clichés and a tag sale suitcase full of generic items. Next to their make up bag full of patchouli and clove cigarettes there's the bottle of whiskey (most likely the ol' black label Beam) and lots and lots of the blues.
Don't get me wrong; it's not that it's bad…it's actually pretty good at times. While track one, Shake Sugaree is very genre specific and down right annoying (I'd rather listen to Mary Lou Lord's interpretation), track two, Bad Luck Day Baby, ain't bad, although reminiscent of Ani in her slower, sadder moments.
Perhaps their instrumentation is what saves them and sets them apart. The addition of upright bass, wurlitzer, fiddle and lots of harmonica all throughout the album does nothing but boost them up and give them a sturdy support base upon which to do their thing.
However, I think it's the lyrics that keep Po' Girl lingering in the A-Typical file. Lines such as "drinkin' whiskey and thinkin' about all them years" just seem unauthentic coming from the mouths of a couple of young women.
They blend aspects of folk, blues, jazz and country with a bit of the Bayou and a bit of any old metropolitan area. The urbanization of classically rural genres of music is so popular. Whether it's making "indie kid" friendly country such as The Naysayer and The Handsome Family or this very hip big city folk, it's all in whether or not you prefer your music "dressed up" to a natural. It seems that most people want their favorite artists to play dress up while they sing and play.
When you break it down, Po' Girl plays folk and country better then they do their jazz and blues. The first two sound more real. I just don't see these ladies sitting amongst a gang of weatherworn old men taking shots of whiskey.
- Stephanie Haselman | 2003-10-01
