This American band from Chicago have a bluesy , roots sound they call "garage cabaret". This is dominated by the brash, melodramatic vocals of Berit Ulseth.
The 13-song collection contains unashamedly vintage songs which were all composed by pianist Johnny Iguana and he writes prominent parts for himself.
The Claudettes' co-founder, Michael Caskey, plays drums although the
track You Drummers Keep Breaking My Heart suggests, with shades of Spinal Tap, this has been a hard position to fill.
Most other tunes are predictable variations of familiar themes of love or lust and there's an obligatory booze-related song, One Special Bottle.
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Only the moody piano ballad The Sun Will Fool You, which closes the album, seems to touch on genuinely heartfelt emotions ("I'm cold with no comfort from you").
Overall, a flat, messy production by Ted Hutt fails to inject much in the way of style or fizz into proceedings.
The tunes might aspire for the bright lights of a glitzy Broadway spectacular but they end up sounding like a soundtrack to a low-key fringe show.
The Claudettes' website
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