HARROW FAIR Call To Arms
Roraing Girl Records [Release date 19.05.17]
Deploying that now familiar White Stripes, unaccompanied two piece modus operandi, Canadian duo Miranda Mulholland and Andrew Penner let loose a kick drum fuelled debut laced with rootsy guitar and fiddle.
Both well established and renowned players – the flame haired Mulholld, in particular, having a cv longer than a rattlesnake – the pair have crossed paths regularly since 2008, but only relatively recently started working together.
They describe their sound as old folk and country music mixed with garage rock, and that’s a fair description of an album part rootsy country (‘Told A Lie To My Heart’, ‘Been There Ways’), part folk (‘How Cold’, ‘Emmaline’), and part rock ‘n’ roll (‘The Hunt’, ‘Call To Arms’, ‘Bite The Way’). Shared lead vocals, counterparts, and harmonies are a key element.
There’s an edginess and attitude to proceedings that you don’t usually associate with a ‘roots’ release, and while that sets Harrow Fair apart from most of their contemporaries it also presents a conundrum as to where their appeal will lie (or not).
For me, the jury remains firmly out – it’s a great formula, but overall I’m not convinced the material is strong enough to straddle genres or conformist enough to satisfy purists. ***
OH SUSANNA A Girl In Teen City
Continental Song City [Release date 12.05.17]
Part autobiographical, part fictional, A Girl In Teen City revisits Suzanne/Suzie Ungerleider’s pubescent years in Vancouver – a city itself undergoing a transformation from sleepy port town to metropolis in the 1980s.
Forget the Juno nominations. Forget Suzanne / Suzie / Susanna’s folk, country, and roots badging (sometimes I wonder if a Canadian passport is all that’s needed for a Juno nomination), A Girl In Teen City is an adult orientated ‘pop’ album, following – not exactly hot on the heels of – Namedropper (2014), an album written for her pseudo name Oh Susanna by some of Canada’s top songwriters.
A coming of age diary set to music, A Girl In Teen City is an album to which anyone willing to revisit their formative years should be able to relate. And with her ‘girly’ vocals belying her years – this is her seventh album since the release of her debut EP 20 years ago – the bitter sweet stories of pleasure and pain sound real and heartfelt.
But lyrically, A Girl In Teen City is most likely to resonate with a female audience, and frankly that’s a brave move. Made anodyne, it might have had wider appeal, but it’s likely to grate with male listeners, most of whom aren’t likely to be much impressed by tales of a female teenage heart. ***
Review by Pete Whalley
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.
Next session: Sunday 1 December
Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio
David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.
UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.
How to Listen Live?
Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)
Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”
Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.
More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com
Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024
THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)
Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024
09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)
PDF - you can delete unwanted sections
