Shovels & Rope
Something Is Working Up Above My Head
*** out of *****
The most recent release from the veterans Shovel & Rope continues their blending of genres into a modern Americana stew. The songs on Something Is Working Up Above My Head will sound just as at home blasting out in arenas for thousands of fans or in a basement with just an acoustic guitar and no one around.
The husband and wife duo of Michael Trent & Cary Ann Hearst have been at this since 2008. Their voices work wonderfully together, singing co-lead on almost all of the songs here. The album opens with the paranoid rock of the title track as pianos and rising tension work well.
The band swings from genres and styles with nothing off limits. "Piranhanana" is fuzzy and stomping with dance ready indie rock and buzzy synths/pedals while "I'd Be Lying" goes for dramatic swelling pop in grandiose style. Both work well and show the range of the duo.
"Colorado River" is an experimental folk song that never fully takes off and neither does the Jack White sounding distorted dance rock of "Two Wolves" that has an almost disco beat underneath. The return to big pop sounds on "Te Amo" works better as does the 50's retro rocking "Double Lines" that shakes and shimmy's with joy.
The band's mixing of styles, predominantly pop, rock and Americana, can go over the top in less successful ways as well such as on the marching "Salt Tooth" and the acoustic strumming of "Love Song From A Dog (feat. Gregory Alan Isakov)". However, Trent and Hearst's willingness to try anything makes the duo always worth checking out.
The album ends with perhaps the best tune as Shovel & Rope take the teachings of Ram Dass and put the Buddhist mantra into a decidedly Christian spiritual. Taking this music and pairing it with these words is a cool mix, blending religion and beliefs as "Dass Hymn" speaks to humanity on multiple levels; a neat trick.
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