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Le Diamant Brut: Cartright & The Ettes
What’s the Deal: The Austin fivesome that is Cartright, which also happens to be the surname of the outfit’s singer, Ben, has a unique, authentic and raw sound that harkens to times long ago spent trekking through a barren, dust bowl era landscape or braving the open waters as a sailor who’s devoted his life to the sea. During performances, Ben and the band’s appearance (sometimes suspenders, a top hat, boots and beards) fits perfectly with the organic folk sound they assert full of raspy, whiskey-soaked choruses encouraging sing alongs, humming acoustic chords from an old guitar, foot stomping beats and plenty of beautiful flaws that make you despise over production.
So far, all that’s available from the hearty, rough-and-tumble, rowdy roots folk rock Cartright lads is a 5-song recording, A Tall Tale Comes of Age. It does, however, have quite a lively sound packed into those 19-plus minutes. One of the songs definitely worth your time on the EP is “Sailor Song”. It starts with a warming ramble of clicking and ringing strings and road-worn vocals, and picks up into the kind of welcoming fete that encourages the audience to mount the stage and mix with the players.
Something Interesting: You can catch them at Mohawk on December 18th with Frank Smith, Clay Nightingale and Sad Accordions.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “Learning to Die” and “Third Time”
Cartright [MySpace]
What’s the Deal: The Ettes - Coco, Poni, Jem and Johnny - are one of the stronger girl-fronted rock and roll groups to come a long in a while. Or maybe, they come along all the time and the male-dominated music scene doesn’t give proper recognition nearly often enough. Either way, since their debut, Shake the Dust, that’s exactly what this Nashville group has been up to. The blend of pop and garage punk The Ettes pull off is infectious, distortion-charged and full of hip shaking power.
Their latest album, Do You Want Power, which arrived this year, was produced by Greg Cartwright, aka Greg Oblivian, of Reigning Sound, The Oblivians, The Compulsive Gamblers and more. That fact alone is enough to get garage rock fans salivating. Some of the key tracks on the record are “Take It With You” and “Red In Tooth and Claw”, but many of the songs share a similar arrangement of danceable, explosive percussion and a nearly insurmountable wall of guitar fuzz and drone.
Something Interesting: The group caused a stir during SXSW this year as they made the rounds from Mohawk to Cheapos and everywhere in between, making fans of critics and civilians in the process. You can also check out a video of their performance at Beerland in September on YouTube.
Other Tracks Worth Checking Out: “You Can’t Do That To Me” and “It Ain’t You”
