'Pennsylvania' is New York based Anne Stott’s second album. There are ten tracks on the CD all of which fall into the rock/country rock genre. Anne’s vocals are at times reminiscent of Debbie Harry, but with a writing style that brings to mind Patti Smith. One thing that really impressed me with this is the strength of the lyrical content. Anne Stott isn’t afraid to show emotion on some of these tracks, and it clearly shows.
Opener, ‘Only Us’ starts as it means to go on, a good solid guitar rock track, the subject matter is all about a relationship with its ups and downs, and when things get bad a real fear of what the future may bring: - “Words fired out of spite going home alone again tonight/ In the dark, a growing fright that we may never find a way out, the way through”.
And:- “What we can’t face it turns to rust, reaching out we almost touch/ In the dark, chasing love that we don’t even trust”.
With such a good opener, I thought that the quality would drop considerably by the second track ‘I want to know’, but it didn’t. Once again, the raw emotion dripped from this song: -
“You were saying something more about wanting less/ But I couldn’t hear your voice cuz I got up to get dressed/ It was right before now and just after then/ The smell of your touch never left my bed”.
There is some great imagery in this track, namely: - “Love is an auctioneer accepting only your past as payment” which is extremely memorable.
‘Ghost Town’ changes the pace somewhat, a slow melancholy organ based track about the sort of town where nothing happens and people don’t live, they just exist: - “We’re all walking with the dead while everyday we pay/ To buy the illusion that our ghosts aren’t here to stay/ Will I make it out alive? I guess no one ever does/ It’s a battle to the death to live beyond what was”.
The song’s imagery is again strong, from the faces of the people sitting on their porches, to the radio playing in the launderette to the broken hearted washers.
‘I Don’t Know a Thing About Love’ redresses the balance with an upbeat, almost jaunty guitar sound. The title of the track gives away the subject matter which appears to be ironic. It’s not love that is unknown to the person in the song, it’s the ability to read and deal with emotions, and there is certain hardness to the character: - “I caught a good one and I let her slip away/ I hurt the next one just to make someone pay/ Now I know my heart’s condemned to stray/ And I don’t know a thing about love”.
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‘Someone Else’, goes a lot heavier than previous songs, being a lot harder and louder, with a frantic chorus. The subject matter is again about losing out in a relationship, the character in the song is bitter at how quickly their ex has moved on, and alternates between self-pity and bile: - “That bullet went through my chest so many months ago/ It’s lodged near my heart where angels fear to go/ It bleeds through my shirt when I think of you/ So I have to do the laundry more than I want to”.
‘Parts Unknown’ is more acoustic and laid back, and the subject matter concerns running away from a possible broken relationship and a broken heart.
‘Somebody’s Gotta Play Jesus’, which follows is a good solid rock track underpinned with some nice steady drumming. The track is very reminiscent of Patti Smith, both musically and lyrically: - “Harvey Milk played Jesus/ Aileen Wuornos and New Orleans too/ Elvis Presley played Jesus/ Next time Jesus might play you”.
'The Edge of Words’, is another track that works extremely well, with a fade in fade out guitar line supported by some nice cello, this is a coming of age anthemic song (“My virginity ran rampant when I was fifteen/ The brutality of age was more than I could redeem") allowing the album to finish on a high being a country rock styled song with a spoken intro all about desire and yearning: - “The night dares you with veiled invitations/
Before long there’s no destination/ Wading through the city’s empty streets/ The lampposts glaring down on all you’ve needed”.
Overall, I thought that this was a great album. Ok, some of the tracks were written in 2006, but age has certainly matured them. ‘Pennsylvania’ is definitely worth a listen.
Anne Stott online
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