In which we review the new CD This is Somewhere by Vermont-based band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. This chick can rock!
Indie Rock From Vermont“Ah, Mary” is the first track on This is Somewhere the new CD from Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. It was also offered as a free download on their website, which has no doubt inspired many new fans to buy the CD. Really. One song can be that good. “Ah Mary” is song that seems to be about a girl, may be about a girl, but during the last measures of this rocking song, Grace Potter changes the words to “A-merica”. Then the entire song makes sense and comes together.
The Voice of Grace Potter
To describe Grace Potter’s voice, you must perhaps take equal parts from Eddie Brickell, Joss Stone, and Dusty Springfield. Throw in a dash of Pat Benatar. Grace Potter is able to push her voice to the limit, singing all out, but can also bring it down to a quiet and lovely lullaby tone. She has soul without trying to sound like something she is not.
“Stop the Bus” starts as a blues shuffle with a harmonica wailing in the background. This song, as in others, provides pleasing riffs and hooks that make replay irresistible. These are rock and roll pop songs that will make you tap your foot, and perhaps speed a little faster while driving.
The Band!
The lead guitar of Scott Tournet provides an excellent compliment and finally equal to the voice of Grace Potter who also plays the Hammond B-3, piano, guitar and mellotron. Tournet also provides harmonica, vocals and lap steel. Drummer of the Nocturnals, Matt Burr, provides a high-energy lattice-work of percussion that often drives the band to epic and anthem proportions.
The CD Package
The songs on This Is Somewhere are deeply personal, obtusely political, but most of all they rock in a classic, fresh and unrelenting way. Buy this CD and send it to your friends who like to rock. And once you get the CD, you must admire the photo and artwork of the CD package itself. It seems that Potter was raised by interesting and artistic parents including her father, Sparky Potter, who can be seen on the cover raising the largest American flag on the Verrazano Bridge in New York City during the American bicentennial in 1976. Given the political themes of the album and the personal nature of the imagery, it makes the entire package that much sweeter, relevant, and timely. Rock on Grace Potter and the Nocturnals!
