Spuyten Duyvil - New Amsterdam

[purchase]

When I reviewed Spuyten Duyvil’s previous album a year ago, I noted that the band had just replaced their bass player and added a drummer and a harmonica player. Now, these new members are fully integrated into the band, and we get to hear what they sound like. James Meigs is the harmonica player, and he often plays Chicago style, which means that he places the harmonica directly on the microphone and gets that dirty, distorted sound that one hears in Chicago blues. Mark Miller can now write for a band with a tight rhythm section. So New Amsterdam is an album of folk, blues, even occasional old-time jazz and gospel flavors, but all delivered with a powerful rock kick. Beth Kaufman has the strong voice to put all of this over beautifully, and Miller, who takes more of the lead vocals than last time, is very impressive here as well. He has the power for an old-time blues number, (One Fine Day), but can also take a more subtle approach for a jazzy shuffle, (Through the Light). Overall, the affect is a wonderful blend of rock energy and jug band flavor and variety.

There are two covers on the album. Things get started with a rocking Shady Grove. I’ve never heard the song approached this way before, but I challenge you to try to sit still for this one. Later, a perfect train rhythm starts up, and Beth Kaufman launches into a fine performance of Freight Train. After she completes the lyrics the first time, Mark Miller comes in with a song I haven’t heard before that I would call Angel, Lay Him Away. This then becomes a counter-melody, when Kaufman comes back in with Freight Train again. All in all, it works beautifully. The album cover lists ten songs, but there is also a hidden track that should not have been. Track eleven is just two minutes of silence, but then comes a song called Pride Packs Her Bags. This is a beautiful breakup song, filled with yearning. It is more acoustic than the rest of the album, so maybe that’s why it’s hidden. But don’t miss it.

Mark Miller has a knack for writing original songs that sound traditional, and I certainly mean that as a complement. In particular, I actually searched on line to try to find an older version of One Fine Day. I was that sure I had heard the song before. These kinds of songs often have spare lyrics, with a lot of details left for the listener to fill in. But Miller also writes more modern songs, with more of the details in the lyrics. I was particularly impressed with Coal Train, Through the Light, and Peace With the Damage, as well as Pride Packs Her Bags. Coal Train depicts a weary soldier who must return to the war; the subject could easily be rendered as a political song, but here instead is a deeply human portrait. Peace with the Damage is a portrait of a woman who regrets the actions that have led to a breakup, but who can not yet take full responsibility and apologize. Through the Light has a story that is somewhat in shadows; a man is in the hospital for a life-threatening situation, but he considers his situation through a series of metaphors to avoid fully facing his fears. Miller finds characters in emotional flux, and he depicts them perfectly.

I don’t know when was the last time I mentioned this many of an album’s songs in my review. New Amsterdam is a treat from start to finish.

Spuyten Duyvil: Through the Light

Spuyten Duyvil: Peace With the Damage

Spuyten Duyvil - In Spite of the Devil

[purchase]

I’m breaking my own rule here, and reviewing an album from last year. That’s because I only just discovered Spuyten Duyvil this past weekend at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. In the last year, there have been some changes in the band too. They have added a drummer and a harmonica player, and replaced their bass player. Nevertheless, In Spite of the Devil offers a fair survey of what makes this band so good.

First of all, there are the lead vocals, credited here to Beth Kaufman. Since this album came out, she married songwriter Mark Steven Miller, and she now goes by Beth Kaufman-Miller. This makes perfect sense, because her voice is an ideal vessel for Miller’s words. Kaufman-Miller isn’t going to coo or whisper. She has a strong voice, and expresses emotions naturally. But Kaufman-Miller is powerful, yes, but in control. She can modulate her tone to convey different kinds of emotions. Her voice has both a bluesy and a country quality to it, and she knows how to make it work on a variety of material.

The band here includes Mark Steven Miller on bouzouki and tenor guitar, Tom Socol on guitar and dobro, and bass and fiddle complete the band. Sarah Banks gets a beautiful clean tone on the fiddle, and can add wonderful countermelodies or extra rhythmic punch to the songs. Guest musicians add drums, keyboards, mandolin, and cello. So this is the sound of a large mostly acoustic ensemble, and the band is tight. Some songs have hints of old-time jazz, while the traditional song Rain and Snow has a Middle Eastern flavor to it, but mostly, I would call this music folk.

There are seven songs in all, and six are originals. But the song Spuyten Duyvil sounds like a traditional song, perhaps from Ireland. I’d love to know if this one is based on a historical event, because it tells the story of how the town of Spuyten Duyvil got its name. Let the Rain Come Down is the repentant blues of a sinner, and here Mark Steven Miller takes his only turn on lead vocals, singing in a Tom Waits-like growl. It suits the song well, but his wife is the better singer. I Know You’ll Leave Me is a country tinged song about the expectation of heartbreak. Miller does not limit himself to any single genre, but he knows well the ones he works with, and yet he also avoids clichés in his writing. And the album works very well as a whole.

So Spuyten Duyvil is a band that can perform songs in a variety of styles without sounding like just a visitor to any of them. They have a writer who can deliver those songs, and a lead singer who can put them across beautifully. The current lineup is at least as good as the one heard here, and I can’t wait to hear what they do next.

Spuyten Duyvil: Rain and Snow

Spuyten Duyvil: Spuyten Duyvil