And Now For Something Completely Different..

Whether she employs a Macy Gray type voice or a trained singing style, you can't ignore - or classify - Lucy Mongrel. Inventive and all over the map, Lucy Mongrel features Afro and Cuban rhythms, Celtic folk music, zydeco beats, Middle Eastern percussion fit for a harem, and swatches of Delta blues. Upon first hearing something this unusual, there are two basic reactions. The first one is "Okay,that's too weird, it's not registering,", the second is a bemused and happy "What the hell is that!! I like it!" With Lucy Mongrel, the reaction is more likely to be the latter. There's banjo on the first track, the lively Meet On The Street, even though it's basically a Middle Eastern twist. Misty Haitian rhythms work the voodoo of Papa Legba, The spoken-word Gaelic recitation on Freedom, accompanied by mandolin, bagpipe and other exotic instrumentation, is an impressive dirge and album closer. Max, the Circus Cat should be on a hip kids show - or at least an episode of The Simpsons.

Who's Been Sleeping In Your Bed? is a classier, more subtle treatment of being trounced by a cheating lover, not the usual feminist diatribe. Next Time You Wake Up, Thank You and Who's Been Sleeping? are common themes of love gone awry, with an uncommon musical approach Thank you says, well, thanks for revealing your true rotten self so I can go onto a real person...very sweet and most like a regular love lost song.. A minor problem is that the quirky vocals sometimes overshadow good lyrics instead of complementing them. Livin' the Blues features a twitchy backbeat courtesy of the local lumberyard.

What kind of music is this - I don't know - whatever you want it to be like Kate Bush or Lene Lovich with a worldbeat flavour. (Not like Tori Amos because you can understand what the lyrics mean.) Even Lucy Mongrel's review sheet is a hoot, a sense of humor is apparent throughout the music; it's not a lofty, psuedo-intelluctual enterprise, it's fun. Vocals and songwriting are credited to Lucy Mongrel; back-up musicians have played with Elton John, the Stones, and Etta James, among others, and the CD's producer is Steve Peterson, an actual member of the Kingsmen (That's right - of Louie, Louie fame.)

Reminiscent of Frank Zappa yes, in the weird, experimental sound sense. I can't remember an offering like this by a female-fronted band since the early 1980s Each song has its own distinct "ethnic" sound, which gives it a life of its own. Hard to gauge who'd Lucy Mongrel's fan base would be if you like good music and want something other than top 40 guitar and drums and bass -if you like a lot of spice on your stereo, this is definitely a treat.

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