Lucy & Wayne and The Amairican Stream

The duo Hymn for Her is a loud, noisy, white trash country band with plenty of grunge and grit in their sound. Liner notes are a bit sketchy about who plays what, but the tunes here are full of over-the-top vocals, barely contained electric guitars, banjos, drums, handclaps, foot stomps, and wailing harmonicas. "Fiddlestix" is a good example of their free-for-all approach, it combines a stomping rhythm, a vocal duet full of keening harmonies and clattering banjo, and a gradually accelerating tempo that keeps things off balance and out of control. The song is part blues, part country-rock and energetic as heck. On the opposite end of the spectrum is "Not," a quiet love song with acoustic guitar, glockenspiel, and breathy, yearning vocals from Lucy Tight that hark back to the quieter sound of Hymn's first album. One of the sounds that drives Amairican Stream is the three-stringed cigar box guitar that Tight plays slide style. The aggressive sound she gets out of it is one of the cornerstones of the duo's sound. She tears it up on "Grave" slipping into a long, distorted solo at the end, while Wayne Waxing contributes howling vocals and wailing harmonica. "C'Mon" is a country rocker with a hint of '60s girl group sass in Tight's multi-tracked vocal. "Thursday" is a cheatin' song with Tight alternating between a grinding slide attack and scratching out the rhythm on mute strings. Their salacious duet ends in a barrage of noise that suggests mayhem. The set closes with "Odette" a stark a cappella ballad that recalls the Southern roots of American folk music. ~ j. poet, Rovi