Miranda Stone

Item: 1,2, Trash a Few, 99, 100
Author: Israel Kloss

1,2, Trash a Few, 99, 100

(1999)

Reviewed by Israel Kloss

Discogs Bandcamp

Label Earthdress ProductionsThe Phantom Tollbooth1999

acoustic rock alternative folk folk rock singer-songwriter

Miranda Stone has done it again. Her sophomore release provides some kickin' live tunes that match the excellence of her debut five-song album, Brave. There are at least two songs on this new album that may even exceed the originality of her freshman album. Stone's voice is, again, the passionate focal point of the album and it sounds better than ever. It has the same bull-in-a-china-closet sound, but she carefully chooses the china she breaks. She experiments more in this album with vocal breaks, trills and half-yodels. The experiment works for me; she sounds great and pulls them off incredibly well.

This live album features seven new songs where percussion, rhythm and tempo are again Stone's song-writing strengths. Add her mastery of the essentials of good song writing to the originality and eclectic variety of the instruments in the album and you have an impressive combination titled "One, Two, Trash a Few, Ninety-nine, One-hundred." Her musical style could be termed punk-folk but is so melodic and full of hooks it's better to put the "folk" first and call it folk-punk. Whatever you label her style, the eclectic sound comes from combining instruments like the accordion, fiddle, mandolin and what sounds like cymbals and an occasional cow bell. Stone's fourth song "follow" has a guitar lick that sounds like something from U2's Achtung Baby--no little accomplishment by Stone's guitarist, Tim Abraham. Abraham appears to be the most instrumentally versatile member of the band, playing electric guitar, accordion, violin and mandolin on the album--as well as offering some bonus live readings.

Stone's voice is comparable to a funky mix of the passion of Ani DiFranco and the angst of Alanis Morissette. While offering the wailing Lilith Fair sound that seems to be spreading like a disease across the states, this Canadian wonder has the vocal versatility to also sing the quieter songs with subtlety and gentleness. Her vocal versatility is one of the most pleasing attributes in the album.

It is difficult to top a red-hot freshman album like Stone's. Consequently, this difficulty makes a good sophomore release a difficult accomplishment. Stone meets and exceeds this challenge. She gives me the impression that she will always rise to meet expectations; and the first album certainly raised expectations. Yet, she met them without the trick of launching into an entirely new genre of music like U2 and many other bands have done with each successive album in order to avoid the comparison curse. This woman and her band are gifted.

What I said after her first album I say after her second: Look for more impressive work from Miranda Stone in the future. But, if there is more good stuff to come, she'll have to resist the temptation that every musician approaching her popularity grapples with: to sell out to a controlling, pop-hungry, national label and its alluring distribution abilities. The wrong label could eat her for lunch and the comforts of popularity could shelter her, take the edge off her lyrics and music, causing her to stagnate. If she can resist the temptation, her art should emerge unscathed and uncompromised. Somehow, she strikes me as a strong-willed person and one that, by now, would have sought out and bowed before a music label if she had any inkling to go that route.