*** Dolly Varden
THE DUMBEST MAGNETS
(Evil Teen)
Chicago's Dolly
Varden are the Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris-style dueting team of husband and
wife Stephen Dawson and Diane Christiansen, a couple of symbiotic songwriters
who first cut their teeth as members of the late-'80s Chicago country-punk
outfit Stump the Host. A sense of spacious, self-assured ease graces the dozen
top-shelf, country-rock tunes on their third album. Dawson's nimble, pliant
voice cannily combines the breezy ardor of Freedy Johnston ("Be a Part") with
the devotional blue-eyed soul of Tupelo Honey-era Van Morrison ("Simple
Pleasure"); meanwhile the dusk-colored hues of Christiansen's voice, which
splits the difference between Kristin Hersh and Margo Timmins, flow like a
dark, sure stream through understated tracks like "Progress Note" and "Some
Sequined Angel." In the end, though, it's the way these two craft songs to suit
their voices that makes Magnets so appealing and exceptional -- not to
mention the refined musicianship that drives bittersweet ballads like "Along
for the Ride" and amped roots-rockers like "I Come to You."
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