Angie Pepper - Res Ipsa Loquitor
(Career)
If I paid any attention to the meaning of the title of Angie Pepper's debut solo album ("the thing speaks for itself"), I wouldn't have to write this review—I'd just tell you to go out and buy it and let it "loquitor" to you. But that would deprive me of the very pleasurable experience of describing why you should pick up this gem. Pepper's sound combines everything I love about the feminine mystique in rock n' roll, from vintage '60s girl groups ("Baby Don't Go," which bears more than a passing resemblance to Jackie DeShannon's "I Only Want to Be With You") to the recently reformed '80s girl pop-rockers The Catholic Girls ("Trying To Find Your Love," featuring a nasty guitar solo from Mr. Pepper, the Birdman of Bozeman, Deniz Tek), and then proceeds to tear the house down with some kick-ass assistance from Donovan's Brain, whose leader, Ron Sanchez co-owns the Career imprint along with Tek.
I should caution you that your CD player is not skipping on "Rockslide"—that's producer Dave Weyer looping Nik Rieth's highly syncopated backbeat. Elsewhere, Pepper's at her sultry, bluesy best on the smooth grooves of "Cool Sea," and she's obviously having a lot of fun with the tribal beat of fellow Aussies The Lipstick Killers' jungle-garage classic, "Hindu Gods (Of Love)." The playful schoolgirl giddiness continues on "Humid Air," a song for which Blondie or The Waitresses would have killed, and nowhere is Pepper's fascination with the girl groups of the '60s more evident than on "Doesn't Seem Right," which if nothing else (and don't get me wrong—there's a lot of "else" going on here), had me reaching for Ellie Greenwich's 30-year old Let it Be Written, Let it Be Sung LP. Finally, "Kiss Me Sailor," which was a Top 30 hit for Diane Renay 40 years ago, is resurrected from the girl-group grave and once again deserves to be heard blasting out of every Top 40 radio station from here to Bozeman and Billings, Montana, where Res Ipsa Loquitor was recorded. Bringing back great memories of Jackie, Dusty, Marcie Blaine, Peggy March, Leslie Gore, Kathy Young...the list goes on and on...it' s 21/2 minutes of perfect pop. And this album adds about 1/2 hour more of this classic stuff. Highly recommended to fans of Holly Golightly and everyone else in love with the rockin' femmes of yesteryear.
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