Crocodile, Ann Courtney & the Late Bloomers
Jun 18, 2009 at 5:40 PM By: Faetra Petillo
Rating: 9/11
This spring, Brooklyn-based rockers Ann Courtney & the Late Bloomers released what may be the season’s greatest indie gem, Crocodile. The band, consisting of Ann Courtney, David Giambuso, Lizzie Carena, Benjamin Byleen and Michael Lupo are not by any means newcomers. In 2003, with their college graduation right around the corner, Courtney and some of her most talented friends decided to face the responsibilities of the “real world” by pursuing the dream of becoming bonafide rock stars. Since then, the five-some have released two independent albums, To Your Health! (2004) and polyanna EP (2006), but it is in their latest release with Cougar Label that you can really see what Courtney and her Late Bloomers are all about.
Perhaps the greatest thing about Crocodile is that it is impossible to the pin the album down as “folk,” “rock,” “soul,” “country,” or any another label/genre the band ventures into -- it literally has a bit of something for everyone. Courtney’s voice is its own force, and she can move from channeling the sultry and gritty Patti Smith to the smooth and sweet Jenny Lewis from track-to-track and even verse-to-verse. Her versatility, with Carena’s perfect harmonies backing her up, gives the disc a variety that is hard to come by when there’s only one lead vocalist. But the variety doesn’t stop with the vocals -- Giambuso and Courtney’s song-writing seems to gather just the right amount of influence from classic rock and country while putting its own innovative spin on rhythm and harmony. Combined with the talents of Lupo and Byleen, the result is a band that does syncopation as well as it does dissonance, and can seamlessly move from slow and smooth to fast and furious within a single track.
With all the back and forth going on, it’s easy for an album to make the mistake of getting too all over the place, but ACLB’s lyrics tie Crocodile into a beautiful package that speaks of the brutal nature of love and the things we do in its name. Whether you call that cynicism or realism, Courtney holds nothing back, and through singing that is bluesy in tracks like “Merteuil,” upbeat and poppy in “Don’t Be A Fading Bruise,” or classic rocker in “Nice & Quiet,” the album stays true to the thematic elements that string everything together.
Reader Comments (2)
Look at you Ben B!! AHHH soo proud of you man!!
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