Rabble Rouser Records
P.O. Box 153
Lopez Island, WA 98261
Harmony Ridge Music
P.O. Box 995
El Granada, CA 94018
hrmusic@rahul.net
(800) 611-4698
A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
Joules Graves takes the activist, world-beat woman motif of Ani DiFranco and Laura Love, wraps herself around it, and develops it even more. She began performing at a six-month encampment at Gas Works Park in Seattle to protest the Gulf War. It was there she wrote her first song, Boot Bush in the Tush. On her third release, Plunge!, her songwriting continues to grow.
DiFranco moved from Buffalo to New York City to explore herself and her music; Graves moved from Chicago to a cabin in the San Juan Islands of the Pacific northwest, living simply without running water or electricity, to explore hers. Themes of natural living are examined in Land of Fake Fires, a slow piece with finger-picked guitar backed by violin. In this song, Graves finds irony in her observation that the color spectrum found in an oil slick on a puddle reminds her of the natural rainbows in the sky. At the end, she recognizes that Mother Earth is alive underneath the concrete of the city and one day will rise again. In contrast, People of the Earth Tribe is a call to environmental activism with Joules' djembe drum backing her vocals.
Wamba (The Big Bottom Belly Boobie Goddess) is a natural follow-up to "Big Woman" from her second album "Waterfall Child", in which she declares her independence from diet fads, lipsuction, and breast reduction surgery. Outta Control is a folk-rap a la DiFranco's The Slant. In it Graves decries the homogenization of America with the chant that
| Some people would have a heart attack If they heard something stronger than Musak So they buy their music Cheez-Whiz brand Over-processed and comfortably bland. |
Graves can sing sweet love songs as well as she can play the role of angry female. I Like You is a funky, sexy romp with a big booming bass played by producer Bruce Harvie. Honeysuckle was recorded on a vintage 1936 RCA microphone, giving this track a soft, classic vocal sound. Substitute piano for acoustic guitar and you might even think it was a jazz standard. Teaching My Heart exclaims,
| And it's true when they say you can't accept someone else Until you can truly accept yourself We're all learning how to accept ourselves. |
Most of the songs on Plunge! highlight Joules's vocals, acoustic guitar, and drums, supprting them with sparse arrangements. The production is smart and appropriate for the subject matter so when an electric bass or a Hammond organ enters the mix, it contrasts with the earlier songs, enhancing the effect. Plunge! blends world-beat, funk, punk, and rap with contemporary folk and provides the listener with an enjoyable, danceable, 52 minutes of music.
Edited by Kerry Dexter
(riosur@aol.com)
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