Vudu Sister is the collective name for singer-songwriter brainchild
Keith McCurdy and a varied roster of accompanying musicians, including
drummer Alexander Garzone and some lovely harmony vocals from Kate
Jones. Though a relatively new act on the scene, Vudu Sister have
already established themselves as earnest artistic alchemist who have
combined elements of traditional folk, Appalachian mountain music,
depression era protest songs , Celtic sounds, and a heaping scoop of
modern alternative sensibilities. The result is a painfully heartfelt,
often dark and beautifully disturbing music that may not win over any
Justin Biber fans anytime soon, but will immediately sound both familiar
and fresh to those of us in-the-know.
Throughout the 10 offerings on Bastard Children, Keith McCurdy’s
guitar picking and singing serves as a droning constant that
appropriately sets the mood for this deceivingly simple stripped down
music. McCurdy works in a voice born from such disparate singers as
David Van Ronk, Woody Guthrie, and Jack White. Though he sometimes
flirts with his pitch, he does so in deference to the genre. And
perhaps most importantly his lyrics and song structure demonstrate an
obvious understanding of this genre, which can often leave less-schooled
artists sounding like a bad parody.
Bastard Children opens with the dirge “Psalms”, a battleground shanty
that speaks of mourn and lament. With a plaintive bass drum punctuating
the accompanying dobro and mandolin, McCurdy plays and sings in a
manner that puts me in the mind of Dylan’s “Masters of War”: “Can you
hear the dead bell tolling, can you hear the five man drum, can you hear
the death bell ringing in the deep…”
With its dark, sardonic storyline, standout track “Dead Man’s Pocket”
is perhaps the best single example of what Vudu Sister is all about.
“Somebody out there done hit him – with the blood on his hands still
stained – he covered his tracks and he stole what was left inside of the
dead mans pockets..”
I’m looking forward to revisiting Keith McCurdy et al when their next
project is released. With the level of maturity already displayed on
Bastard Children, it won’t be long before these guys become the stewards
of the entire roots scene, in New England in beyond.
