专辑简介

U.S. southern rock

Poker Alice has the songwriting, the musicianship, and the vocals to properly present the bands songs. Their latest release, "black white and blue" is a great CD. I am an American who lives in Texas, and it is surprising to me how the songwriting can capture a U.S. southern rock quality given that the band is based in Switzerland. I have been a fan of Poker Alice since hearing "The Plane¨ more than five years ago. I like all the bands albums, but "black white and blue¨ will take its place as one of my very favorites. Any song on this CD could potentially be a hit. I have my favorites. At the moment I like "Heart of Steel" and "One of Kind¨ a lot. But my favorites have switched around since receiving this album, and that is the sign of getting familiar with a great album. Poker Alice is basically a guitar/female vocal band. Yet, the CD has a variety of sounds. On one song, for example, there is a very clever acoustic guitar introduction that leads into a piano based underpinning for Monikas vocals. The production and mix on "One of A Kind¨ is complex, but leads to a very pretty overall result. The guitar work by Charlie Midnite and Ivan throughout the album is superb. The drummer and bass player are excellent, and rhythms are varied through the disc. Monika, the lead vocalist of Poker Alice (though the last song on the disc is offered up to a male vocalist) can rock and she can sing the "break-your-heart¨ ballads. She has a natural loneliness in her voice, and when she sings "call me tonight ¡ to be ¡§by my side¡¨, well - - you sure want to. ƒº Charlie Midnight and pals write and deliver appealing melodies that bring out a familiar feeling and, yet, are brand new. The songwriting is in the best of pop/southern rock tradition, and that is quite a surprise from a Switzerland band.