Indigo Girls
Indigo Girls (1989)

review by: Alexander Washburn
Date: 1/10/03

I was scrolling through the alpha list of Music Reviews, 2Walls has acquired over the years. I was a little surprised during my scroll to find that no group or individual starting with the letter "I" has ever been reviewed. Always looking for a hook, I quickly ventured over to my CD collection.

There is no chance in hell that I'm going to review INXS' 'Listen like Thieves,' even though 'What You Need' is a decent song and can get people to move if you play it at the right time. Of course I could review a few volumes of the great Rhino compilation 'In Yo Face: The History of Funk.' But after further thought, my advice would be to skip volumes 1-6 and go straight for the Volume ½: 'The Roots of Funk," which features Clarence Reid, Archie Bell and the Drells, Lowell Fulsom and The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band to name a few.

As you can see, it took a while for me to realize I decided to not write a review of 'In Yo Face,' and finally settled on the Indigo Girls self-titled first record back from 1989. Why? Simple, I love this record. It's a drive down country-road to a house with two talented women on guitars singing songs with meaning about love and life. In the 1980's, this record provided a refuge for all the electronic, synthesizer music I digested. In the 1990's, it was the lifeboat wading through a sea of grunge. Today, it still rescues me for what passes for music today. When I'm not in the mood for anything, I'm in the mood for this record. That's like gold in my book.

It's a little dated, especially when the ladies sing of "someone in the bathroom floor doing her cocaine," – a line that could've come straight out of a Jay McInerney novel. But the optimism of 'Prince of Darkness' supercedes all the fears the ladies lay out for their "place is of the sun." We all know 'Closer to Fine' a song a girl I knew in college use to do a great cover of. You can't help but be lead by that songs infectious chorus. Michael Stipe, back when that name actually meant something gracefully appears, as do a few other of the R.E.M. clan, to help out his fellow chums from the Peach State. However, the highlight of this record is 'Blood and Fire' a song about longing and desire - that's intense and intimate at all the right places. Amy Ray's vocals show emotion on every note.

Simply put, the "ayes" have it.