The Grapes - The Grapes

Label:	Rubber Records
Released:	1999
Highlights:	Head Of Blue So You Say You Lost Your Baby Marmalade Keith Richard's Sneer Where The Ocean Meets The Sky

Rating: 8/10


The Grapes is a collaborative effort between Sherry Rich and Ashley Naylor (Even), whose impressive self titled album is too good for The Grapes to be simply labelled as a side project. As to be expected, The Grapes is best described as country-ish pop but with the emphasis on the pop side of things. The songwriting is high indicating that these songs are no cast offs or outtakes. Indeed the brilliant dreamy psychedelic pop of Marmalade would have sat perfectly on side two of Even's last album, Come Again. Other highlights include the mean strut of Keith Richard's Sneer and their cover of Gene Clark's So You Say You Lost Your Baby.

The Grapes should appeal to fans of both alternative country and pop music as it straddles both styles without finding itself stuck somewhere inbetween. It comes across as a quite seamless record despite being disjointedly recorded over a variety of separate recording sessions. The only disappointing aspect is that there are only nine songs, including two covers. Surely two artists of this calibre could have come up with one or two more quality songs. I also wish that they had a proper backing band to help flesh their songs. However, these are only small criticisms against what is a fine album.


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