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| Home Weekly Top 25 CD Reviews Musically Inspired | |||||||
| Stand Still, Look Pretty-The Wreckers | |||||||
| Michelle Branch...where did she disappear to? The name is one that hasn't been heard in pop music in the past few years. After a few years off, that name returns...only, it doesn't. Michelle Branch returns to the music scene, but under a new moniker and a new genre. Along with friend Jessica Harp, Branch is now part of the country act The Wreckers. Sales of the band's debut disc, Stand Still, Look Pretty, will probably be pretty high solely because of the name recognition brought on by Branch's involvement. But, is the disc really worth lofty sales numbers? The lead single and lead-off track of the disc, Leave The Pieces, shows off a great country sound. Branch and Harp mold their vocals together very well and, in fact, it is very difficult to discern who is singing which solo. When the harmonies come in, their voices just seem to work perfectly together. This is true throughout most of the disc. Tracks like My, Oh My and Tennessee continue to prove this point, with the vocals of these two ladies just working very well together. Tracks like The Good Kind and Hard To Love You showcase some strong writing ability from both ladies. The disc is full of simple yet solid lyrics that bring forth strong emotions. Songs like One More Girl give listeners a taste of edgier, stronger lyrics as well. Not every track is great. Cigarettes and Crazy People both fall behind the rest of the disc a bit musically and lyrically. Vocally, the tracks are still solid, but vocals alone can't make the songs. Overall, the disc also lacks any real stand-out tracks, and many of the songs can mesh together, making it hard to discern which track is which. This fact does hinder the disc a bit. Overall, Stand Still, Look Pretty is a decent offering. It's certainly nothing spectacular, but it still manages to be a pretty good offering. There's a lot of potential for growth, so there is hope that The Wreckers will be around for a while. It's a relatively good debut disc with some definite room for improvement. |
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| 7.0 Out Of 10 | |||||||