Sally Timms
"Cowboy Sally's Twilight Laments ... For Lost Buckaroos"
(Bloodshot Records)
Sally Timms is best known for her estimable vocal contributions to The Mekons, a twenty-year-old punk-turned-reggae-turned-country-turned-avant-garde-rock group. Her voice is one of the high points on classic Mekon recordings like "So Good It Hurts" and "Curse Of The Mekons." On those records (and many others) Timms' singing stands out like a single sweet rose amid a bouquet of rough and tumble gardenias. On her second full-length solo disc Timms slows things down considerably and emerges as her winsome alter ego, Cowboy Sally. Surrounded by some of Chicago's more talented musicians that play what we like to call "Insurgent Country," Timms glorious voice is put to good use. Besides a great rendition of Johnny Cash's 'Cry Cry Cry," Cowboy Sally interprets the compositions of fellow Mekon Jon Langford, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Nashville exile Robbie Fulks and the Handsome Family's depressive love couple, Brett and Rennie Sparks. A charming collection of songs with traditionalist C&W roots, "Twilight Laments" showcases the glorious melancholy of Sally Timms' backwater muse. Her dramatic reading of Guy Lawrence's 'Dreaming Cowboy" is as pure as a mountain stream and stands up there with the best of country divas like Kitty Wills or Patsy Cline. With Jessica Billey and Andrew Bird contributing authentic fiddle playing and Jon Rauhouse laying down some great steel guitar, this record has a high lonesome feel that's not always present on the latest album by Ms. Shania Twain. Trust a bawdy gal from England to play American country music good and proper. Now all we have to do is wait for the new Mekons record.
by Mitch Myers
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.