January 22, 2004
Girlyman
Remember Who I Am
Clever Shark Records
So who's behind
the irresistible moniker of Girlyman, a trio that fits the bill
for swirling styles and gender roles, both individually and collectively?
Doris Muramatsu and Tammy Greenstein, whose 2002 debut as The
Garden Verge received an Outmusic Award for Best New Recording
by a duo, make up two-thirds of Girlyman. Rounding out the group
is former Bostonian and Boston Music Award winner Nate Borofsky.
The accolades
don't stop there, however. This past summer, Girlyman was voted "Most
Wanted to Return" by fans at the prestigious Falcon Ridge
Folk Festival; surprisingly, the trio had formed as a musical
unit only a few months before the event. One listen to the 12
tracks on Girlyman's first studio project, "Remember Who
I Am," and you'll understand why they snagged an audience-favorite
nod so effortlessly.
Their resonant
sound is one that you're almost guaranteed not to expect. Equal
parts Indigo Girls, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and REM,
Girlyman's mellow, rootsy atmospherics feel right at home in
an intimate acoustic venue like Harvard Square's Club Passim,
where the trio recently performed. The group members trade songwriting
responsibilities on most numbers, though their techniques flow
together as smoothly as their electric harmonies.
Aptly titled, "Remember
Who I Am" is a stirring collection of remembrances -of friends,
of lovers, of ways of life. "Viola," the disc's lovely
opening elegy, dips and soars more gracefully than many songs
of its kind ("I drowned myself tonight in sangria/ Made
with sliced up fruit and cheap marsala"). Other ballads
such as "Say Goodbye" and "The Shape I Found You
In" move deeply and deliberately courtesy of Joe Dye's pedal
steel guitar, which floats through the songs like a somber ghost.
The dreamy "Maori" boasts a gorgeous melodic finesse
as it contemplates the faraway natives of New Zealand, while "Amaze
Me" tells a quirky tale of love for America in a dark time.
Each song hooks into what's visceral and true. (8 out
of 10) -Jason Roush
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