Greenville Scene

Brandy Lindsey and the Punch
Songs We Know

myspace.com/theotherbrandylindsey

by: Keith Groover

This EP, Songs We Know, features seven songs which are played well, orchestrated well, and showcase the talent of Brandy Lindsey, who has a very pretty and versatile voice. The music is officially Americana, which to me means country minus redneck, but thankfully, it doesn’t carry with it the pretension and faux-authenticity that is so common to the genre. With that said, it’s not my cup of tea, but I appreciate the talent and effort that’s gone into making this.

The first track, “White Lies”, is by far the catchiest song on the EP, thanks in no small part to its hooky vocal line and the great, blossoming finale. But what makes it (as well as “The Bitter End”) so good in some ways exposes the weaknesses of the other tracks. Where they are tight, melodically interesting, and structurally defined, several of the other songs tend to be a bit unfocused, with seemingly aimless melody lines (”Old Friend”) and obtuse structures (”To the Nines”). As a result the EP ends up not having a lot of, well, punch. Hopefully that’s a problem that an extra round of polish and production will solve the next time around, and the rest of the songs will live up to the potential shown in “White Lies” and “The Bitter End”.

So listen to their stuff on myspace and go check out a show, because regardless of how this EP hits me, they are in fact a great live band, and I think they have a bright future.