Rachel Doe - Rachel Doe's Album (2009)

Rachel Doe has a unique sound, smart lyrics and a versatile voice that all add up to good music. A 20 year old college student studying music in Boston, Rachel writes, performs and records all of her own work in her spare time for fun. And even though I'm putting this on MvA, this isn't exactaly an album, in fact, it barely qualifies as an EP. This is just the collection of songs that Rachel gave me when I asked her for a sampling of her music- the textbook definition of independant, DIY recording.

"Bunny Hey Hey" is the stand out and my personal favorite track here. Lyrically, it brings uniquely off-beat humor that doesn't feel forced or overly silly. Vocally, the distinctly female vocals engage and simply sound great. And you can hear subtle punk/alternative influences in the quick tempo and barebones guitar work which provide great contrast to the "girly" nature of the rest of the song. She plays "Gorgey Porgey," the ballad, in an almost completely different style that makes good use of grunge-esque "loud/soft" structre that works very well against her voice. And "Organism," the shortest track is charmingly "get in, get out" while still having very mature sound.

Bottom line, this isn't really ground breaking or genre redefining, but these tracks are fun and easy to listen to. And it really is refreshing to listen to a solo/acousting female vocalist that doesn't have that late 90s post-grunge "I am woman, hear me roar!" feeling to it.

>> Download