On their debut disc, alt.folk duo Doghouse Roses put the experience gleaned in treading the boards across the UK's folk and Americana circuit to good use. When presented with the veritable sweethop that modern technology presents, it's all too tempting to ladle on the sugar, icing and unnecessary hundreds and thouands - ultimately losing the heart of the music.
Here however, the music is built around the essence of their live sound - Paul Tasker's intricate guitar and Iona Macdonald's crystalline voice. Tasker's soundtrack mines the best of Scottish and American musical influences, at one moment homespun and folksy, at another bluesy while Macdonald's pure vocals are heart-achingly haunting throughout.
'Gone There' opens the album the album with an insistent, finger picked rhythm around which a tale of loss and regret is spun - all the while textured harmonies and ambient guitar sounds hover on the edge of hearing, adding an ominous sense of foreboding.
Its not all gloom, though; elsewhere 'Greener The Grass' evokes a pastoral idyll while 'happines' is a languid ragtime blues that translates the title without resorting to trite mawkishness. However, perhaps the standout track is the tender, piano-led "Stalling", which like a great Joni Mitchell tune, leaves the listener simultaneously sated and devastated.
Trevor Raggatt
Rock & Reel, Nov/Dec 2008
