Album Notes

The Seattle Weekly writes: Carter Family, hah! Give me the Minutemen They can drop a mandolin or banjo into any song mix when you least expect it, but the coolest thing about this Austin, Texas, band - fronted by ex-New Yorkers and forever sisters Amy Boone and Deborah Kelly - is their love of punk rock and, more specifically, their stated influences from X to The Minute Men. The band hides it's infatuation no more. After a stint in the majors (starring on Sire as the Damnations Tx), the Damnations are back, sans Tx. Highlighted again by Boone's and Kelly's irresistibly haunting sibling warbles, "Where it Lands" also serves as a coming-out party for Rob Bernard as a major contributor. The one time member of Louisiana's Prescott Curleywolf contributes nearly a quarter of the songs, including the Creedence-inspired "Root On" and the philosophical ode of affection "Animal Children," and shares omnipotent lead vocals on a stunning remake of the Minutemen's "Corona." Kelly and Boone put their punk-rock fingerprints on "New Hope Cemetery," a menacing original seemingly plucked from X's "Wild Gift" songbook, and deliver familiar strains of soul ("Quarter in the Couch"), honky tonk (a cover of Doug Sahm's "Wanna be your Mama"), and front-porch folk ("Bloodhound"). "The all night special gains momentum," Boone declares on "All Night Special," which plays like 21st century Lovin' Spoonful. "It's the all night special by demand." This is a special record. We'll be demanding more. - Scott Holter