It’s You, the Ruminators with Patti Rothberg (EP, independent)
--originally published in The Village Sun--
The boundaries that once doggedly confined Downtown below East 14th have faded like myth, but even as artists sought out points north, west and out, that worn strip of rich cultural past remains spiritually vital. In the mid-90s, as gentrification encroached without mercy, singer-songwriter Patti Rothberg was signed by a major record label and began touring the world. It was one hell of a ride.
While studying at the Parsons School of Design,
Rothberg thrust herself into the Anti-Folk scene, aligning with punk-damaged
protest singers bearing acoustic guitars as proper weaponry. Soon after, while
performing in the Union Square subway station, she was encountered by an EMI
A&R man (“EMI and Sony were fighting over me”, she has said), and was soon in
the studio and then on the road pushing her debut album Between the One and
Nine. Alternative hits like “Inside” and “Treat Me Like Dirt” made for
important statements as well as damned good rock n roll.
In the years since, Rothberg’s projects have included
the all-female Ramones trib, Rockaway Bitch, but it’s only within the
Ruminators, her duet with vocalist/bassist/guitarist known as Just Jill which
offers the listener a raging glimpse into the Anti-Folk days of yore. Armed
consistently with an acoustic guitar, Rothberg’s voice blends tightly with
Jill’s, casting strains of Cindy Lee Berryhill, the Washington Squares and
Michelle Shocked through their new, outspoken repertoire. As expected, the
songs are bitterly, wonderfully spiced with ironic tales of life,
relationships, and society, but as both women are skillful songwriters, each
came to this duo with quiversful of material. Jill’s long been a constant of
song circles downtown and up, as well as in Brooklyn, pouring out warmly emoted
titles (and solo albums), and Patti’s career has been nothing if not prolific.
The pairing maintains the essence of each, albeit threaded through a blast of post-punk
folksay, highly harmonic British invasion pop, and a vital dosage of feminism,
seemingly custom fit to Little Steven’s Underground Garage.
The Ruminators with Patti Rothenberg released their EP
It’s You earlier this year, and it’s been making the rounds of radio and
podcasts that thrive on such sounds (including this writer’s Beneath the
Underground streaming weekly on WFMU). The first cut of the set, “Love Shrine”,
driven by a thicket of acoustic guitars, features Patti’s moving vocal and a
carefully placed electronic keyboard line. Jill’s harmonies at times encase the
lead vocal, moving along in thirds, but at other points leaping up into a new
range, closing out on a dramatic low. Following this is “Emo Man”, a highly
unique bit of new wave with an 80s-rich swirling synthesizer, electronic drums,
and Jill’s probing bass are arranged just behind Patti’s acoustic guitar. Their
voices here are closely knit, more reminiscent of actual folkies but the Everly
Brothers creep in there, too, as well as underground sardonic pairings like the
Sugar Twins.
The breakout cut seems to be “Manwhore” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NQCFfY6FTU , riddled with straight-faced sarcasm and
backbeat handclaps, the duo’s traded vocal lines and call-and-response chorus
reel the ear in without effort. The lyrical snarl (there’s plenty room for
more/when you’re a manwhore) is relentless, as we like it. But closing
number “Fuck the Penises”, while needing no explanation, wins the medal for
acid humor through ersatz vocal harmony crashing into unisons, oddly calling on
visions of childhood songs that girls coming of age might have sang while
playing the hand-jive of Miss Mary Mack on a much more feminist planet.
Find the Ruminators with Patti Rothberg
here:
https://www.instagram.com/ruminatorswithpattirothberg/
https://www.facebook.com/theRuminatorsOfficial
https://www.tiktok.com/@ruminatorswpattirothberg
https://justjillandpattirothberg.hearnow.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment