The Felice Brothers: Yonder Is The Clock (Team Love, 2009)
During the last few years The Felice Brothers has been one of my favourite bands and therefore I would like to love Yonder Is The Clock more than I actually do. I’ve tried to convince myself that’s is equally great as Tonight at the Arizona, but I suppose I finally have to admit to myself that it just isn’t. This doesn’t mean it isn’t a fine american folk album, because it definitely is. It just isn’t able to live up to my unfairly high expectations. The problem probably is the fact that most of it just isn’t very instant and the patience of a pop fan is put to real test. The stories and the harmonies are still captivating, but the song material doesn’t reach the level of early favourites Frankie’s Gun, Your Belly In My Arms and Ballad of Lou The Welterweight. Well apart from Katie Dear, which is a gorgeous folk ballad. My other favourites are All When We Were Young, Boys From Lawrence County and Buried In Ice, but most of Yonder Is The Clock is “only good” traditional american music. There’s nothing really wrong with that, but one tends to expect more from The Felice Brothers.