The Nields
GOTTA GET
OVER GRETA
Guardian 7243
Nerissa and Katryna's website
also available on amazon
When I think of bands made up of members of a family, I'm sorry but I think Partridges and others of that ilk. This is far from that vacuous music. This is acoustic folk music meets Pop Punk Country in a strong and daring shoot out. Listen (at a good volume) to the dominating rhythm section and the fuzzed guitar of the opening cut, “I NEED A DOCTOR”. You know you are listening to an acoustic band that is rocking and doing so to make a strong statement. They even have Kevin Moloney (Sinead O'Connor and U2) as the producer of this disc. The good thing is the sisters’ vocals are still soaring all over the album. So, though they have rocked out, they have not lost the main ingredient of their sound that was so fresh and won them so many fans. The song writing here, 10 of the 14 are written by the group, seems to have taken a turn into the darker recesses of the mind. There seems to be a bitterness in this disc that was not apparent before, if past songs invoked such darkness before I didn't notice. But there is a fantastic version of “LOVELY RITA METER MAID” to end the disc that is worth the price of admission. This is not meant to belittle the self-penned songs which have strong lyric content. Though some of them don't leave any impression.
I am going to take some very strong exception to one of the things that has nothing to do with the listening to the disc, but managed to put a strong bug into my enjoyment of this disc. This bug is the liner notes, which are mostly hand written, in a not terribly neat manner, and the writing is so small as to require a magnifying glass (I don't need glasses to read), most importantly that are incomplete as to credits for the songs. 10 of the songs have their words and credits included, am I to conclude that the rest are written by others? Because among the songs with no credits is “LOVELY RITA METER MAID”, and we all know from which pen that comes from. Maybe this is a sign of getting cranky as a reviewer but I think not.
Songs and writers - (NC will indicate no credits given)
1. Taxi Girl - Nerissa and David Nields
2. Gotta Get Over Greta - Nerissa Nields
3. I Need A Doctor - Nerissa Nields and Dave Chalfant
4. Best Black Dress - Nerissa Nields
5. Bullet Proof -David and Nerissa Nields
6. I Know What Kind Of Love This Is - Nerissa Nields
7. King of the Hill - NC
8. Einstein's Daughter - David and Nerissa Nields
9. Blind - David Neilds
10. Fountain Of Youth - NC
11. Cowards - NC
12. Goodbye - David Neilds
13. All My Pretty Horses - David and Nerissa Nields
14. Lovely Rita Meter Maid - NC!!!
Musicians
Katryna Nields - vocals, percussion, Scratchie Fiskie on Fountain Of Youth
Nerissa Nields - vocals, acoustic and electric guitars
Dave Hower - drums, percussion
Dave Chalfant - bass, additional guitar on I Know What Kind Of Love This Is and Lovely Rita Meter Maid
David Nields - electric guitar, background vocals and harmonica on All My Pretty Horses,
tambourine orchestra on Bullet Proof: Katryna Nields, Dave Chalfant
and Dave Hower
Dar Williams appears on Lovely Rita Meter Maid
Paul Fox - keyboard, tambourine on Taxi Girl
Produced by Kevin Moloney