Neko Case
Canadian Amp (2001)

review by: Brandon Copple
Date: 9/17/02

I think I'm in love with Neko Case. Actually, I suppose you'd say it's her voice I'm in love with, seeing as how I've never actually met Neko (although I did smile at her once, after a gig at Schubas in Chicago). Okay then, I'm in love with her voice. It's so beautiful. Not in an airy, wine-glass-shattering kind of way but in a powerful, blow-your-fucking-house-down kind of way. And every time she unleashes it, it's like a big emotional harpoon sunk right into my soul.

'Canadian Amp' is a side project, recorded in Neko's kitchen by my true love herself--but it's as good as any of her studio records. First of all, there's no more than a couple guitars backing her vocals on any of the eight songs. This is a good thing, as it clears the way for that majestic voice. Also she's chosen some great covers, including an old Hank, a Neil Young and some stuff by obscure but cool Canadians. Lisa Marr wrote a beautiful sad song called 'In California,' and Neko's bleak rendition is just melancholicious.

One other point. In the liner notes, Neko refers to recording in her underwear. Somebody help me.

Finally, I guess I should warn you: You won't find 'Canadian Amp' in a record store outside Chicago, or on any of the big CD websites. In fact you can only get it at a Neko Case show (which you should by-god go see) or at www.bloodshotrecords.com.

I know, recommending a record that's this hard to find is kind of a prick move. But I can't help it...I'm in love.

Neko Case & Her Boyfriends
Furnace Room Lullaby (2000)

review by: Brandon Copple
Date: 3/22/01

Even with all the great new stuff from Ryan Adams, Buddy Miller et. al., "Furnace Room Lullaby," the second album from Neko Case & Her Boyfriends, might be the best country CD of the new millenium. Neko, a pretty redhead of the kind you're always hoping to find in a smoky Irish pub, is the singer/songwriter and of course she began her musical career in a punk band. This specious fact serves only to make me glad she switched. I can't imagine any punk music that would showcase her train-whistle of a voice like this. The girl sings from her ribcage, working her lungs like a set of bag pipes on moody, passionate songs of angst and anger, death and despair. Between her lyrics and her vocals, Neko imbues this album with more raw emotion than Faith Hill could summon in her darkest pre-menstrual hours. There isn't a bad song, but I have my favorites: A bleak but prideful post-industrial ode to her hometown of Tacoma, Wash, where "there was hope in the trainyards of something inspired." And the title track, a chilling tune about, I think, killing someone and stuffing his body in a furnace.

You can call this alt.country if you want, but excuse me while I puke. I'm so sick of that shit. Yes, Neko was in a punk band and yeah, she's now fronting a pretty good pop band called The New Pornographers. And okay, on "Furnace Room Lullaby," the rock and pop influences are easy to hear. But there's a country sensibility driving the album--Neko's got the blues, and a set of pipes that'll have you too feeling down-lonesome, and good.