Mary Lou Lord, the buskerish Bostonian songwriter who first cut her
teeth for Kill Rock Stars, used to sing a song, back in those days,
about not fitting into "his indie world." But if all her sunny
major chords and moves copped from classic songwriters aren't considered
the regular riot-grrrl-ish gear you expect from the KRS empire, then
Nedelle Torrisi's richly resonant voice and softly jazzy songwriting
makes her even more the indie-scene black sheep. Torrisi was initially
unsure about signing to tiny indie imprint Kimchee, who issued her
fabulous debut disc Republic of Two in the ought-three, the songsmith
not knowing anything of (t)his indie world and its way and ways. Yet,
after that disc caught the ear of the e'er-discerning KRS kamp, and they
invited her to take part in their epic Tracks & Fields two-disc various-artists set, Torrisi is now doing so much more than just moonlighting in such a
scene — not merely inking up to Kill Rock Stars but, in her first
full-length recording for the label, essentially reprising a role first
played by a certain Lois Maffeo, the reigning queen of Olympian esteem.
See, the first fruits of Nedelle's new label-affiliated union find her
teaming up with Thom Moore, half of
Californian/English-accent'd/wishing-they-were-the-Everlys siblings The
Moore Brothers. Coincidentally enough, the other half of the brethren,
Greg Moore, was the guy who hooked up with Lois on another KRS kollabo,
those twain tied together as Owl & The Pussycat on an album of the same name issued early
last year. That union had a whole back-story of serendipity and
coincidence and star-cross'd cassettes behind it, yet, whatever the yarn
behind Nedelle and Thom's glue is, it's too easy to think of this union
as a sequel, where the success of the first idea is passed off onto a
relative; a sort of Teen Wolf Too for the international pop underground.
Of course, in keeping it in the family, there's a certain similarity
b'tween this Summerland album and that Owl & The Pussycat one, as I'm
sure only Mrs. Moore — and maybe Spiral Stairs — can tell the brothers
apart on tape. Stripping away the evocative evening-wear collection of
sad ballads, analog organs, and ruffled layers of gorgeous vocals that
Nedelle debuted on Republic of Two, here things have more of a
straight-up pop feel, with plenty of major keys and electric guitars and
lusty drums keeping things kinda straitlaced. And this compositional
bodice seems to squeeze some of the life from Torrisi's empowered pipes,
her diaphragm pushed into a pose of prettiness, sacrificing the sexual
rawness and liberal longing her singing embodies when she's choosing the
compositional adornments. Instead, here she's just a girlie voice
singing pop-songs whose conception of "summery" sounds as thin as a
summer dress.
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