Paper Doll by Samantha Fish
'Paper Doll' by Samantha Fish
Although Samantha Fish isn’t afraid to be brassy and flashy, the singer, songwriter and guitarist has marked her 30s with a journeywoman’s devotion to the basics, building rock and soul edifices over a blues foundation. Paper Doll is the latest row of houses, and it is very sturdy.
It’s also cut hot, recorded in the midst of touring, with her current road band—keyboardist Mickey Finn, bassist Ron Johnson, and drummer Jamie Douglass—and producer Bobby Harlow, who helped her open a few ears on her 2017 covers record Chills & Fever.
This time, the songs are originals, written by Fish with Harlow and other regular co-writers, including neo-Nashville hitmaker Jim McCormick. And if the nine tracks don’t attempt any startling new angles on classic beat-music song subjects, Fish and her band’s livewire energy keeps them jumping, sparking, and cooking.
Or just boiling over, like “Sweet Southern Sounds” when the music shifts from an easy, slow groove into something altogether faster and harder while Fish’s guitar writhes and bucks. Or just tumbling over a southwestern prairie, like “Off in the Blue” as it reverberates and distantly thunders like a lost Mavericks B-side.
Harlow’s garage-rock cred becomes more evident on “Rusty Razor,” throwing a little salt into every cutting beat and slashing riff and recruiting fellow Detroit-punk veteran Mick Collins (from the Dirtbombs and the Gories) to respond to Fish’s calls.
Her blues-rock cred is never in doubt: “I’m Done Runnin’” could start or end any of her live shows with a firecracker snap of defiance, “Don’t Say It” sets a gloweringly reflective midtempo mood, and “Fortune Teller” taps into the tower of power that Jimi Hendrix harnessed with “Voodoo Chile” (and its slight return).
The artistic focus of Paper Doll is relatively narrow, but Samantha Fish’s talents within that focus are wide. She is establishing a discography and a reputation that could put her on par with Robert Cray or Bonnie Raitt. What she builds will remain standing.
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Get Paper Doll at Amazon here.
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