Review Summary: Abbe May has a fantastic blues and rock voice, but doesn't use it enough on her first full length album.
Abbe May (pronounced Abby) is a vixen of vocal energy who hails from the west Australian capital of Perth. Backed by her aptly named band “The Rockin’ Pneumonia”, Abbe May’s debut release is a juxtaposition of scorching guitar blues riff and soft ukulele driven ballads, and ended up winning the 2007 WAMI award (never heard of it? Its ok, neither have I).
The album opens with the guitar fuzz assault of the title track “Howl & Moan”. Consisting of Abbe May’s distinct and powerful voice addressing the prospect of marriage, and how “he’s the only one”. ‘The Rockin Pneumonia’ highlight the vocal delivery with the savage bursts of heavy guitar solo’s and the savage drumming. The high energy of the album is continued on the next track “You Gonna Get It”, a rollicking journey to the pub to listen to the local band, and then complain that they’re playing to loud.
After the fast pace of the previous tracks, things slow down with the mellow country ballad “We’ll Take A Trip Up The Country” which features backing vocals from male band member KT Rumble, giving the song a pleasant dreamy feel. The comically named “Costanza” is a reference to Seinfeld (I Can’t Stand You). Featuring a solid riff and simple beat, it is driven by Abbe’s sultry delivery of pained lyrics like “I still love you/but there ain’t no hope/and I’d hang myself/if I had enough rope”. Cap it off with a belting solo and you have the first single from the album.
Tracks “Ma” and “Old River” seem to blend together towards the middle of the album, after the previous track they are very soft acoustic ditties (“Old River” even has a whistle solo) and seem somewhat out of place at this stage of the album. “A Blackout In Your Town” is a ominous death ballad with Zeppelin like guitars and vocals, accompanied by the lyrics ‘I Smoked enough/than I really should’.
What better way to extenuate the soft-loud dynamic of the songs on this album than to have a sea-faring ballad played on ukulele? “Storm” is calming tale of bad weather retreating back out over the ocean, backed by a deep double bass and Abbe’s crooning voice floating away into the distance. You pick up the album for some rocking tracks, and then you are captured by the softness and beauty of this elegant piece. “Sidesteppin’” is another short track that doesn’t seem to quite fit in with how it is positioned on the album, but provides a gently transition and build up from “Storm” to the next track.
The album ends with the dark, eerie sounds of “Lay Me Down”. Vibrato guitars echo out as the lead is laid down, building up the chorus breaks which are just pure explosions of guitar burst and static.
This album is best played whilst driving down the highway at obscene speeds, or while sitting around at home trying to polish of that scotch bottle, but never both at once.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/abbefuzz
“Costanza” film clip: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rftp0SAJgk
