Utah Carol

Rodeo Queen

(Stomping Ground)

Record Review by Amber Henson

As soon as I popped Utah Carol’s Rodeo Queen into the CD player, I immediately thought of a twilight summer party, with Chinese lanterns and soft, warm breezes.  Grant Birkenbeuel and JinJa Davis’s voices poured around me in their pillowy tones and I was instantly relaxed.  The way that they sing, where they never really push their voices, is somewhat reminiscent of Joy Zipper.

But Utah Carol lean toward a twangy country sound much more than Joy Zipper, and they rely far less on electronic equipment.  And whereas most Joy Zipper songs seem to be happy and upbeat and about love, I kept hearing words like “falling,” “apart,” and “down” repeated in many songs on Utah Carol’s album.

They also almost always sing the words together, even when it’s clear that it’s coming from Davis’s POV or Birkenbeuel’s.  This is most obvious on “Come Back Baby,” and “I’m Sorry Maria.”  It’s an interesting concept.  Later, on “The Golden West,” Birkenbeuel starts without Davis, but it sounds more like a poem than a song.  There is also fervent whispering to be heard on this album, along with whistling—which I guess is back.

“Sam’s Ranch,” begins with an orchestra tuning, then becomes more up-tempo than any of the other songs before returning to the sound of the rest of the album.  Although the record takes little side trips like this, it’s never enough to make anything jarring, or seeming out of place.  They clearly know what they’re doing; Rodeo Queen is their third album, following Wonderwheel and Comfort for the Traveler.  It’s nice to hear a band that knows who they are and are comfortable with the beautiful sounds they make.