Reviews

Katharine Whalen

Dirty Little Secret

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Review Date: 2006-08-31

Putting on Katherine Whalen's new album, Dirty Little Secret, starts as if you just walked into a jazz club, and she's on stage. And she's really really hot. And so is the song Whalen is singing; “The Funnest Game”, a song that sexualizes the art of, well, fucking around on your significant other. So really, it's not a sexualization so much as a re-sexualization. And then you slap yourself for thinking such thoughts while there's this little siren up on stage. And then the title track comes on, and it's like a cold shower to the ear.

And while were at it, didn't Melissa Etheridge release this album? And then you look at the end of the CD, to the credits and you realize that some guy named David Sale wrote the song. And he engineered the CD. And your head starts hurting because you realize that this siren has been suckered in somewhere. While Ms. Whalen had a hand(at least in the credits) in writing the first track, the next two are most definitely Mr. Sales, and they definitely... Hey, you know what? Good for him for finding someone willing to sing them.

So those of you who know the Squirrel Nut Zippers know Ms. Whalen. Interestingly enough, once we get past the one's Mr. Sale wrote without her help, the album starts getting better.

It's not really about the lyrics here. But it I have to say that Whalen's voice is what makes this album interesting at all. Some of the instrumentation(all Sale) is pretty wicked, while a lot of it is a miss. Though even with Whalen's help, “Meet Me By The Fire” is also a pretty large miss. It's unfortunate really. Because as an EP this album might actually work well.

In particular, “Angel” starts out as a "Come Together" sounding kinda deal, but then breaks off and explores the limits of Whalen's voice and returns to the sexiness of the earlier sucesses. Largely though, this is like listening to a Robert Plant album- the greatness is evident, but it's hidden in a tendency to overdue what needn't be overdone. It's largely the production here, for sure. In “Angel” it works, but not always.

To sum up, there are about 4 good songs on this album. The rest is pretty much time between those good songs. Whalen needs to get more involved, end of story.

Score: 6.2

- Bobwell Gaines