“Blame is a Killer” – Amy Ray
Tough, tight, crunchy rock’n’roll from Indigo Girl Amy Ray, who for the third time now trots out her kick-ass side on a solo record. Nothing complicated to report on, just a fast, slashing guitar attack counterbalanced by some nice chords and background harmonies in the chorus.
That said, listen to how concise a sound Ray is working with here–the song rocks hard, but there’s no sloppiness, no stray sounds, no wailing or echoing guitars, no extraneous drum bashing, no casually interacting instruments; “Blame is a Killer” drives forward with the compressed vitality of a Strokes song, leading me to half expect to hear Ray’s voice processed through some sort of filter or distortion. Maybe that’s why the fully sung and harmonized chorus feels especially refreshing after the clipped vocal phrases utilized in the verses.
“Blame is a Killer” is a track from Didn’t It Feel Kinder, Ray’s third album as a solo artist, which will be released in August on Daemon Records, a not-for-profit record label founded by Ray back in 1990.
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