Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Caitlin Rose

The Stand-In

Label: Names Release Date: 25/02/2013

89135
jmclark37 by Jon Clark February 18th, 2013

With her penchant for boozing, smoking and swearing, Caitlin Rose is exactly what you want from your Deep South entertainer. Hailing from Nashville, Caitlin imbibes the music whilst disregarding the conservatism of the Bible belt. She makes country music with a cosmopolitan outlook, dragging the genre into the twenty-first- century with its spurs a-scraping.

With a voice capable of beautiful fragility whilst still retaining an aspect of grit, Rose's second album The Stand-In sees her sing of loss, love and drinking - all authentic Southern fare, but executed in a fashion which makes it new and refreshing. The lyrics are sardonic and confessional, talking of hitting people with “one last stone” and of “lonely people with nothing to say”, in a fashion that is both hilarious and occasionally jarring in its bluntness. In tone, it is no drastic deviation from her previous LP, but the relatively juvenile whimsy to which her excellent Dead Flowers EP bore witness is long since past; this is a record from an artist with increasing maturity, wisdom and talent, and doubtless a hangover to match.

There is a more rock oriented feel to this record that is evident from the outset. The overdriven opening chords of ‘No One To Call’ crash in immediately, starkly announcing her progression from gentle, acoustic led ballads to full-band barnstormers, albeit with the slide guitar and Hammond Organ rooting them into familiar country territory.

Despite this sense of familiarity, The Stand In witnesses Caitlin dabbling in a few genres that are somewhat atypical of her and her band. ‘Waiting On A Broken Heart’ is a soulful Back To Black-era Amy Winehouse number; the stabbing, pulsating piano chords and crashing drums adding a sense of drama to her tale of love’s pitfalls. Elsewhere, album closer ‘Old Numbers’ competently wields a touch of Weimar glamour; the blaring, jazzy horns bringing the record to a delightful finish in a similar way that ‘Goodnight Ladies’ did for Transformer.

Sadly, some of the tracks on The Stand In do veer rather dangerously into the centre of the road, and the album suffers as a result. ‘When I’m Gone’, is a particularly ambling number which lacks the flourish and charisma which is present in the majority, and the production on ‘Everywhere I Go’ is the only aspect it has of any particular note.

Despite this run of two poor(ish) songs, the album is largely excellent - a record bridging the gap between country music and popular music’s less derided genres perfectly. Rose seems to progress with each year - her live set more focussed, her records more diverse. Somehow she manages to do this without losing the unique humour in her work - and therein lies her charm and potency as an artist.

  • 7
    Jon Clark's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

Apparat

Krieg und Frieden (Music for Theatre)

Mobback
89123
89136

Justin Velor

2013

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND