Striking Matches: Nothing But The Silence

Updated:

August 30, 2018 2:55 pm

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Striking Matches
Nothing But The Silence
(I.R.S.)
3.5 out of 5 stars

Back in 1986, T Bone Burnett produced the BoDeans’ debut album. Nearly 30 years and dozens of projects later, his work on Striking Matches’ first release recalls much of what made that first BoDeans album so successful. Between the acoustic/electric twin guitar attack, easy flowing harmonies, peppy mid-western rootsy singer/songwriting and an unbridled enthusiasm, Striking Matches fires up a hot, often incendiary first impression.

Fronted by the guitars, vocals, singing and songwriting of Sarah Zimmerman and Justin Davis, these songs crackle and sizzle, walking on a tightrope between pop, rock, country and blues. Each boasts a memorable hook and chorus but the darker undercurrent to the swampy “Never Gonna Love Again,” the thumping, cautionary “Make a Liar Out of Me” and “Nothing but the Silence” resonate most deeply. These are balanced by the more rocking, commercially accessible “Hanging on a Lie” and “Missing You Tonight,” songs whose somewhat cliché titles lean towards pop arguably as much as anything Burnett has been involved with.

Zimmerman and Davis have distinctive voices (Davis’ is remarkably similar to the BoDeans’ Kurt Neumann) and swap leads. But it’s when they join together that the combination yields its most irresistible treats and these eleven tracks are arranged to take advantage of those natural harmonies. What is most obvious is the energy, gusto and sheer enjoyment that leaps out of the speakers. From the jittery opener “Trouble is as Trouble Does” where the singers spar with each other, trading leads with a drive that comes from youth and practice, to the slow, sensual, melancholy ballad “Like Lovers,” the disc’s most intimate and reflective moment, the twosome shifts from sweet to edgy yet retains their fervent eagerness.

If Burnett has done nothing other than capture that vitality add bass and drums to the mix and help choose their best tracks, he can proudly add another notch on his ever expanding belt of quality Americana productions of artists that deserve the attention his name in the credits provides.