Some people who are regular readers of this site may think I’m
\npermanently stuck in the past – I tend to focus on older albums and
\nestablished artists. Some may say I don’t ever step out on a limb
\nand try new artists.<\/p>\n
But I do surf the Internet often for information on new bands –
\nwhich is where I first heard about Sexpod. Their bio intrigued me –
\nif these women were as powerful on disc as the bio suggested, I was
\nin for an evening of slamming my head against the drywall of the
\napartment. A couple of “oh, please, oh, please” e-mail messages to
\nthe label, and I soon had my new toy –
\nGoddess Blues<\/i>, their debut release.<\/p>\n
For sure, Karyn Kuhl and crew are talented musicians – in case
\nthe stereotype still exists about “girl groups,” put it to the side
\nand smash it with a sledgehammer. And while the performances are
\ngood, Sexpod falls into the same trap almost every new band falls
\ninto early into their careers – the songwriting needs a coat of
\npaint or two.<\/p>\n
The trio is led by Kuhl, whose vocals seem to be a cross between
\nAnn Wilson and Chryssie Hynde. Bassist Alice Genese is fluid at her
\ninstrument, but I almost wish she got a little funkier on it – her
\nplaying seems a bit restrained. And drummer Tia Sprocket turns in a
\nsolid performance behind the trap kit. So far, so good.<\/p>\n
The title track opens with some teaser starts, but when the song
\nfinally kicks in, the track quickly gains a funky groove. Though
\nthe false stops near the end of the song are a bit distracting, the
\nsong has some very solid moments.<\/p>\n
The album continues on a positive note with the next two songs,
\n“Impenetrable” and “Foot On The Gas.” The trio settles back with
\nsome well-written songs and intriguing lyrics which hook the
\nlistener upon the first listen.<\/p>\n
“Go” is a slight step backward, though not due to Sexpod’s
\nperformance. It’s a little disappointing that Kuhl didn’t develop
\nthe song’s lyrics a bit further – I tended to get tired of hearing
\nthe phrase “you gotta go” pretty quickly. The performances revive
\nmy interest in the song; Kuhl’s combination of rhythm and lead
\nplaying during the chorus is reminiscent of the Red Hot Chili
\nPeppers.<\/p>\n
Maybe this is one thing that let me down with Sexpod, something
\nwhich is not their fault. A power trio tends to restrict a band’s
\nperformance a bit, because you don’t have a second guitar to fill
\nin the rhythm. So often I wanted to hear Kuhl break forth with a
\nhot solo – the closest they get to this is the closing track
\n“Waterfall,” where Kuhl is allowed to freeform on the guitar as the
\nband quiets down behind her.<\/p>\n
Maybe I’m sounding too cynical; there are some excellent cuts on<\/p>\n
Goddess Blues<\/i>. Besides the previously mentioned tracks,
\n“Delicate Balance,” “Emily” and “Black In Bloom” stand out in the
\ncrowd. These are the songs that show the band is able to live up to
\nthe hype of their bio. Others, like “Drunk In A Dress” and “Dirty
\nGirl,” fall short of the mark.<\/p>\n
Don’t get me wrong, Sexpod is one of the better female bands
\nI’ve heard – I personally think they blow bands like L7 away. And
\ngiven some time and road experience (as well as some more time
\ntogether), Sexpod will have a very exciting career ahead of them.
\nGoddess Blues<\/i> is a valiant first effort, but is cries out
\noften for what could have been. Still, this is an album that leaves
\nno doubt Sexpod will be a force to deal with in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5693],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-35569","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-sexpod","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35569"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35569"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}