After establishing herself as the leading chanteuse on the British garage punk scene through her work with
Thee Headcoatees
and on a number of fine solo albums,
Holly Golightly
's music has evolved from a distinctive blend of rock, blues, and supper club jazz into a fractured variation on traditional country music with her combo
Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs
, a collaboration between
Golightly
and Texas-born multi-instrumentalist
Lawyer Dave
.
's vocal and songwriting style, which seemed graceful on her early solo efforts, became more than a bit clumsy on her initial
Brokeoffs
recordings, with the country accents sounding more than a bit cliched and hackneyed, especially from someone who showed such intuitive intelligence as she absorbed blues and jazz influences. But
is clearly growing more comfortable with her hillbilly affectations, and 2011's
No Help Coming
finds her sounding stronger and more confident as she offers her own take on old-school country and blues sounds. There's an easy and natural blend of sorrow and determination on
"The Only One"
and
"The Whole Day Long"
that makes her sound like a defiant dust bowl refugee from a
Walker Evans
photograph come to life, and when she and
Dave
connect just right on rollicking numbers like
"Get Out of My House"
or the title song, they kick up plenty of dust, generating enough power to keep the lights on in the farmhouse for a week. But
's solo spots are significantly less impressive and suggest the schtick-ier side of this duo's music is likely his doing, especially given his cover of
Wendell Austin
's weirdo country obscurity
"LSD"
(which, no matter what the credits on this disc may say, was not written by
Wavy Gravy
).
is an improvement over
's previous work with
the Brokeoffs
, but this music still doesn't capture this gifted artist at her best. ~ Mark Deming