Wow!
author: Deb
Caught this group at the 2009 Phlly Folk Fest this week and absolutely had to find and buy some. Was absolutely blown away! Witty, sly. Oh yeah, very sly.
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Metro Spirit
author: JOSH RUFFIN
AUGUSTA, GA - As Caravan of Thieves slowly begin to ease themselves out from the music
world’s periphery and into its mainstream, the band is likely going to inspire more than a few
comparisons to Gogol Bordello and the Decemberists. And though such blurbing will be
sufficiently widespread so as to be accepted as hard fact, it would nonetheless be somewhat
misleading. While its certainly true that the Northeastern quartet’s “Bouquet” is entrenched
firmly in the former’s frenetic gypsy swing and in the latter’s folk songwriting sensibilities, they
are, before all else, their own unique animal and, despite their almost ADHD-like hyper-dabbling
in everything from vaudeville to sea shanties to tango numbers, they manage to fuse that
dizzying range of influences into an execution of something wholly blistering, intelligent and
cohesive.
The seamlessness of the Thieves’ style and performance is rooted in the husband-and-wife guitar
tandem Fuzz and Carrie (last names, apparently, be damned), who slap, whack, strum and pick
their way through the album’s dozen tracks. Indeed, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to listen to them
trade solos over a barrage of minor seventh chords with violinist Ben Dean on “Bar Isole,” but
the duo’s secret weapon is their uncanny sense of vocal harmony; capable individual singers they
may be, one listen to the beautiful chorus of “Freaks” is all you’ll need to be convinced.
Speaking of Dean, the man adds a nearly surreal air to the group’s aesthetic, his fiddle runs
sounding as if they might spin out into the stratosphere on “Ghostwriter—and if Brian Anderson
weren’t there to keep everything grounded with his thumping double bass, they certainly would.
Of course, such prowess could be taken as showboating were it not for Fuzz and Carrie’s ability
to craft rock-solid, quirky songs: though rooted in the old-time shanty, “Burial at Sea” flirts with
a menacing Morricone-esque progression, and “The Butcher’s Wife’s” cautionary fable sounds
like the “Sweeney Todd” libretto-writers were commissioned to pen the soundtrack to Walt
Disney’s nightmares. Never, however, let it be said that there isn’t a soft side to “Bouquet;” the
gentle, lilting waltz “Zuzu’s Petals” is the album’s subtle centerpiece.
Despite their lack of Ukrainian street cred (and really, is there no more formidable variety?),
Caravan of Thieves are too charming, too wry, and just too damn good to fly under anyone’s
radar. Especially yours…if you’re still reading this, you have no excuse.
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author: DW Ditty
I am thrilled to find that this CD is out. I caught a short Caravan of Thieves set last April and was blown away - of course by the music, but also by pure energy. These people really know how to move air molecules. Buy it!
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