[ Genres: Folk / Pop ]
Curse in the Woods vocalist Jeannie Taylor and accordionist Sam Harvey met for the first time in a Montreal metro station. In 2009, they started a band, now home to a musical saw, stand-up bass, violin, trumpet, trombone, banjo, organ, and a video projector. Curse in the Woods’ nine members call their work a large-scale multi-media project that combines music and theatre. Band members are influenced by Delta blues and gypsy music, but also love the “eerie” music found in horror films. A cross between Lhasa de Sela and Gogol Bordello, Curse in the Woods doesn’t fit nicely in any music genre. Though the band recorded a demo in 2010, “The Deals They Made” is Curse in the Woods’ first album, recorded and produced in Montreal.
… read the rest if this author’s review below …
“Perfect Lawns” by Curse in the Woods rated on a 5 Star Rating Scale
Review Author Rating: 4/5 | Reviewed by Kelsey Donk
Composition 4/5 Arrangement 4/5 Performance 4/5 Production 4/5 Hit Potential 4/5
Founder (Music Producer & Publisher) Rating:
Composition: 4/5 Arrangement: 3/5 Performance: 4/5 Production: 4/5 Hit Potential: 2/5
From the first note of “Perfect Lawns,” Jeannie Taylor’s haunting voice should make listeners take notice. The smooth and hollow sounds she creates plays with the heavy accordion’s downbeats. Taylor’s background in burlesque performance is almost audible as she changes tempo and tempts the track to continue. As the song advances, Taylor and back-up vocalists become more whimsical and lighthearted. “Perfect Lawns” is then an endearing anthem full of simple and pleasant sounds. The singers reprise, “So much to lose, living the life,” mocking the perfect lawns and social efforts of the upper class. Listeners should put this track on repeat to catch each delicately sung, but powerful joke about trophy wives, housekeepers, and walk-in closets.
I give Curse in the Woods credit for being the kind of musicians I want to be friends with. Their characters are fascinating and their collective voice shines in “Perfect Lawns.” I admire Taylor’s ability to effortlessly shift from creating haunting and sensual sounds to making playful jokes. Curse in the Woods is remarkably genuine. Though three years have passed since a burlesque artist met an accordionist in a Montreal metro station, these roots can still be found in the artists’ music. Curse in the Woods gets four stars across the board for their charming product on The Deals They Made and especially on “Perfect Lawns.”
Curse in the Woods was born as the result of a chance meeting one January night between Jeannie Taylor and Sam Harvey at a Montreal metro station, where Sam was playing the accordion. Sam had just come back from a three-year tour of Europe where he busked in the streets of more than eight countries. Jeannie, a visual artist and member of the burlesque troop Oops Johnny!, had begun to perform her own creation, a theatrical burlesque character, which melded the macabre with sensual beauty. Curse in the Woods is the product of the encounter of these two artists and the mixing of their similar yet unique visions.
Follow Curse in the Woods on the web & these social networks
www.CurseInTheWoods.com – Youtube – Facebook – Bandcamp – Twitter @CurseInTheWoods