You probably won't find a straight-up, ballsier album opener this year than "Do It For Free," the leadoff track from the new album from Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles. Subtle it ain't - the "do it" in the title is the do it you're thinking of. And you won't read any description of it that doesn't invoke Joan Jett (rightfully). If it sounds like the song is intended to convey plenty of 'tude, I suspect that was by design. It's groovy and rockin' in a mindless sorta way, and I guess much of The Stars Are Out embraces that approach.
Not in a bad way, mind you. But any record that pairs five originals with five covers has something on its agenda. Stars hits the ground running and gets things done pretty efficiently. It covers several stylistic bases, but it coats them all in a slick, polished sheen that should remind some listeners of Sheryl Crow before she pretty much sucked. Her previous two albums had gotten Borges pigeonholed into the roots-rock camp, but this record puts away any pretense at countrification entirely (read: the pedal steel is gone). Truth is, I'm not sure this sound doesn't suit Borges and the Singles just a bit better. Still, there's plenty here that will please fans of SBBS's previous albums, thanks in large part to her Broken Singles compatriots.
The results are occasionally a little uneven. A cover of
Smokey Robinson's "Being With You" starts flat but gets better as it goes. However, the unnecessary cover of
NRBQ's "It Comes To Me Naturally" is a bar-band-by-the-numbers track from the get-go (some people believe NRBQ should've been the next Beatles, but they're wrong). Much, much better are the lesser-known covers ("Yesterday's Love" and "No One Will Ever Love You") and especially the original tunes, which don't get enough attention on this album. If there's a dominant flaw exposed in
The Stars Are Out, it is undoubtedly the decision to shortchange Borges' original material. It is solid throughout, and a couple of B-sides (available on
Amazon) indicate that there should've been a few more of Borges' cuts mixed into the final tracklist.
There's a quaint record-industry-heyday vibe to The Stars Are Out. Whether it's the beefy '90's-style production or the cheesy '80's-style publicity photos (or a bass player named Binky), the record sounds determined to distinguish itself from the glut of sensitive female singer-songwriters. It's certainly a success on those terms and, to my ear, in several other areas as well. It has a few problems, but mostly it's gonna sound pretty rockin' blasting out of the speakers with the top down. And that's not a bad thing at all when the first week of Spring is staring us in the face.
(The Stars Are Out is out now on Sugar Hill Records. More info over at the band's official website. SBBS also appear on the new Doug Sahm tribute album, but their cut is only available on the Amazon exclusive version CD or download.)
