Frances Mckee - Sunny Moon
by Andrew Carver
published: 6 / 7 / 2006
Label:
Select Label
Format: CD
intro
Sombre, but rewarding debut solo album from former Vaselines and Suckle frontwoman, Frances McKee
Frances McKee rose to fame alongside Eugene Kelly in the Vaselines. A shambling pop-rock outfit with a fondness for noise and sexual innuendo, the Vaselines created a cunning blend of Kelly’s instinct for upbeat pop and McKee’s sombre monotone. Following the Vaselines’ split, McKee went on to record under the name of Suckle, a gloomier outfit. Her debut solo album, ‘Sunny Moon’, shares a lot of Suckle’s doleful aura. McKee’s voice still sounds like Nina Nastasia’s primary inspiration, and, like Nastasia, McKee uses a stripped down musical background to emphasize her singing. On ‘The Country Song’ her vocals trot along with clicking drums as guitars echo in the distance beguiling the listener with their idle confessions, While inebriated violin flutters around as McKee coos about ‘The Kindness of Strangers’ on the so-named song (those jonesing for the Vaselines will at least appreciate the song’s crunchy down-stroke guitar chords). On ‘Silence Will Do’, McKee sounds like Big Tam era Incredible String Band on downers. The austere musical background and McKee’s generally disregard for vocal inflection will remind some of Leonard Cohen’s work (albeit without Cohen’s gravel-voiced gravitas). Appropriately enough McKee covers ‘You Know Who I Am’ from Cohen’s notoriously gaunt ‘Songs From a Room’. It may take a bit of effort to enjoy listening to ‘Sunny Moon’, but Suckle fans and Vaselines cultists may want to pick it up.
Track Listing:-
1 The Kindness Of Strangers2 The Country Song
3 Silence Will Do
4 Childish Memories
5 You Know Who I Am
6 Without Reason
7 Vicious Tongue
8 Secret Dreams
9 Drink In The Sun
10 Wasted
11 Limbo
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Banter - Heroes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
related articles |
Vaselines: Interview (2015 |
Lisa Torem speaks to Frances McKee from alternative rock outfit the Vaselines about their reformation and 'V for Vaselines', their new third album |
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart