Racine

by Sass Jordan

Overview

Is anyone named more appropriately than Sass Jordan? On her sophomore effort, the Montreal-based rocker kicks the synth-heavy Starship impersonation of her first album to the curb, raids her old Faces and Bad Company LPs for inspiration, and turns the attitude up to 11. Racine ("roots" in French) lurches into gear with "Make You a Believer," a brassy, swaggering nugget of electric barroom crunch that draws from the same well as the Black Crowes but might go one better with its surging gospel chorus. "If You're Gonna Love Me" wraps a cutting riff around Jordan's reckless vocal, which threatens to careen out of control but -- of course -- never does. Jordan's a pro, as her effortless shift into balladry for "You Don't Have to Remind Me" proves. When she sings the payoff line after the chorus -- "Because every night I sleep alone" -- it's with a sigh and a nod, as if she's acknowledging the crappiness of how things go, but will just have another cigarette and forget about it, because there's plenty of fish in the sea. Later, a horn section stops by for "Do What Ya Want," and even if it's totally cliched, it somehow works, if only on the sheer elastic sandpaper quality of Jordan's vocal. That's the thing about Racine -- it's not sparklingly original, but who ever said great barroom hard rock had to be? Each song starts with a chip on its shoulder, as if Jordan's the new girl in town and wants to prove she can hang. By song's end, she's the center of attention. And trashing the cold synths of Tell Somebody for the vibrant Hammond organ of the title track and "Windin' Me Up" was the best possible move she could have made. Jordan always sings straight from her heart -- it's great to hear her throaty purr over instrumentation that comes from the same place. ~ Johnny Loftus

Product Details

Release Date:	01/01/2007
Label:	Aquarius
UPC:	0060270056428
Rank:	155752

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sass Jordan   Primary Artist,Vocals
Jerry Goodman   Guest Artist,Violin
Stevie Salas   Guest Artist,Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm)
Eric Bazilian   Guest Artist,Mandolin
Johnny Lee Schell   Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm),Vocals (Background)
S.A.S.   Vocals (Background)
David Raven   Drums
Greg Sutton   Bass,Vocals (Background)
Rick Neigher   Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm),Vocals (Background)
The Fabulous Martin Brothers   Horn
Jeffrey "C.J." Vanston   Strings
Erik Gloege   Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Kevin Savigar   Keyboards

Technical Credits

Ed Thacker   Engineer,Mixing
Greg Calbi   Mastering
Dennis MacKay   Engineer
Sass Jordan   Composer
Neigher   Composer
Randy Cantor   Composer
Randy Nicklaus   A&R
Stevie Salas   Composer
Mark Sullivan   Production Supervisor
Rick Neigher   Composer,Producer
Karen Dusenberry   Clothing/Wardrobe
Jeffrey "C.J." Vanston   Arranger,String Arrangements
Moshe Brakha   Photography
Paul Leighton   Production Supervisor
Eric Behrend   Assistant Engineer
Jim Pezzullo   Design,Art Direction
Parthenon Huxley   Composer
Chris Frazier   Assistant Engineer
Kevin Savigar   Composer