ALBUM REVIEW: Nicole Reynolds

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ALBUM REVIEW: Nicole Reynolds

POSTED: Thursday, April 15, 2010, 6:45 PM

Filed Under: Music | Album Review | Philly Bands Show

Nicole Reynolds A Fine Set of Fools (self-released) Given: her extensive East Coast roots (Pittsburgh, DC, Philadelphia) and touring travels (Belgium, Germany, The Tin Angel on Saturday), folksinger Nicole Reynolds knows a thing or two about self-discovery. At times reminiscent of Mirah and Kimya Dawson, she chronicles romance, heartbreak and bittersweet family dynamics in intensely personal music. Currently: Reynolds sidesteps specific life events and more broadly studies living, making the boldest moments on A Fine Set of Fools her identity songs. "Crazy as You" is a rollicking directory of "I am..." couplets ("Drunk as the old sea / a rebel in Chelsea."). "Only Atoms" playfully ponders our elemental makeup, "The Tree Believes" discovers understanding in tragedy ("Mama died on Monday / and I don't know my father at all."). She also gets topical: a Guthrie-esque rust belt labor anthem ("Joseph Brown") and a mountaintop removal memorial ("I Went To The Mountain"), both effective. This isn't always the case — on "Earthworms" a righteous point (liberated sexuality) is made awkwardly ("Hermaphrodite sex is amazing."). Perhaps: it's played for laughs. But Reynolds is best when she puts her ponderous nature first. Nicole Reynolds plays Sat., April 17, 7:30 p.m., $10, with Athens Boys Choir, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0978, tinangel.com.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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