I hesitate to say a bad word about the work of a man who has been so generous and supportive of my own work. Fortunately, for the most part, I do not need to here. I did not like everything on "Because We Can", the new album by Sandy Andina and Steve Lee Rich, but there is much to recommend it.
They are essentially a live duo. Indeed some of the cuts are recorded live. Steve and Sandy harmonise well, without overdoing it and Steve's fine guitar picking and rhythmic shifts give it all a bit more backbone. The upright bass of Doug Hamilton is pleasantly supportive and there is some fluent fiddle playing by Julia McConahay, which gives it texture, without ever distracting from the duo.
After the light hearted opener, the Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields "A Fine Romance", comes a dark ballad, "Time Has No Mercy" by Steve. It tells of a man forced into becoming a drifter in his middle age. It is one of his best songs.
Sandy is back for, "Because We Can", which is about a fantasy of revenge on those who avoid responsibility for their actions by hiding behind litigation and bureaucracy. She is also on "Shira", her strongest song on the album. It gets inside the head of an Israeli border guard, who is compelled to risk his life in front of people, to whom he bears no malice.
The story of "The Conman" moves along pacily, with understated backing vocals and strong guitar playing from Steve.
"Mudball", sung and played solo by Steve, sounds like the real thing. It is a essentially a blues about a character losing his self respect. It is one of the most disturbing songs on the album, which is why I like it.
"Safe Home" is simply ghastly. It is the nicest song ever written about soldiers at war. It is careful not to offend Republicans, Democrats, peaceniks, social workers or probably even Dick Cheney's cat. Everyone wants "our boys" back home safe and well and nobody can possibly disagree with such a wholesome sentiment. My teeth still hurt.
"My Grandfather's Clock", well performed by Steve, is a wicked parody of the old folk song about Grandad overstraining his pacemaker. It is written by Sandy and provides comforting proof that she, at least, still has teeth.
"Orange and Pink Prairie Sky" is a cheerful song, pleasantly performed. It could possibly be picked up by a pop/country singer, and reach an MOR audience.
"Buddy I'm Just Sick To Death Of Christmas" may have an easy target –the commercialism of the festival – but the zest of the writing and performance make it a classy tour de force by Steve:
"They make no apologies for overpriced anthologies of loud, obnoxious children singing carols.
When it's on it's just about time to get my shotgun out and let the TV have it with both barrels."
Tom Lehrer would have been proud of that. Regrettably, it is followed by, "Season of Hope", a song about about Hannuka/Christmas, which is so full kindness, charity and good will that I immediately ran outside and shot three traffic wardens.
The album closes with the cheerful gospel sound of, "You Can't Do It All On 'Your Own".
So that's it. The album is full of good singing, good playing and mainly optimistic songs. Andina and Rich are showing cool heads and big hearts. There are just times when I would like to see them show their teeth a bit more. The only way you can offend no one is by not really saying anything. That would be a shame, because I think they have plenty more to say.