For 2014 when thinking of some of my favorite things, this strange tape by a duo known as Sylvia-Rose & T.E. Berry (or Tim E. B.) came from outta nowhere and right to the front, and easily won me over because it reminds me a lot of one of my favorite records of all time, that being the superb “Nancy & Lee”.
The production is a quite bit more lo-fi, and usually the only instrumentation is guitar or an organ. Sylvia-Rose’s vocals are a bit more upfront and I’d say she’s a better singer than Nancy Sinatra was, though that’s in my humblest of opinions. T.E. Berry has a similar, somewhat monotone delivery like Hazlewood, and I like it.
Most of the songs seem to feature only one of the vocalists at a time, however I chose to highlight this song, “Hellbound” as both members’ vocals are not only featured, but twist and tie with one another, and sometimes they seem like they are singing to one another. And not only that, it’s might be the best song, however “Sometimes (A Man is Just a Man)” might be neck and neck with that one eventually.
I don’t know much about Sylvia-Rose or Tim E.B. except that they might be from New Zeland. Or they might not be. It might be more blues than country. Or maybe the other way around. Or maybe neither. And they may also be on a record label known as “Rhinestone Wow-Boy”.
And you can buy either a limited edition cassette, or buy/listen to the album here: http://rhinestonewowboy.bandcamp.com/releases
