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Jon and I woke up today with a song in our heads. The song was “Alligator in the House”, by S.J. Tucker. We went to a house concert of her’s Friday night.
It was a blast. We now have all her albums, and having seen her in person now, I’ll compare her to Voltaire. Yeah, he’s the King of Perky Goth, and S.J. Tucker is new age/pagan rock. It’s not their type of music that reminds me of each other. It’s the live show versus the album. As good as the album is, the live show is better. More fun, more funny, and you get the little stories behind things, audience participation, and those spontaneous moments that some performers just know how to play off of. Also, both of them have songs that tell stories, or find charming ways to explore hard truths. Down right funny ways, for some of it, some is more serious, but they reminded me of each other. Though, in totally different ways. Does that even make sense? Whether it does, or not, it’s still true.
There’s also a little Tori Amos in some of the songs, and Darla even compared her to Janis Joplin. I can’t speak to the latter, but S. J. does have that classic female rock voice, at times. With some songs you could close your eyes and feel the summer heat, and smell the grass, and believe you’re at a Renaissance Fair. To say that her music is diverse is an understatement.
The Wendy (Yes, that Wendy as in Peter Pan) Trilogy of songs is worth getting the album SIRENS on their own, but it’s also the album with the alligator song on it. Plus the first track, “Drowning”, which is a serious subject, done in an almost gospel style. “Carousel”, is simply a beautiful song, sort of melancholy, and magical, but then it’s about the carnival, which is always something I’ve always had mixed feelings about. I had a bad experience in one of the traveling fairs as a child, and it’s left me with something near a phobia of them.
This is just one album, and there’s a lot to enjoy. It’s an album that gets better with repeat listening, which is the best kind of album. I always hate it when I get a new album, and find that after one, or two, listenings, it just doesn’t stand up. S. J. Tucker’s songs stand up, and talk back. She has an amazing voice, and SIRENS doesn’t show all her voice can do. You have to explore some other albums to get the beginnings of her range, and her talent. “Crystal Cave” from HAPHAZARD let’s her voice soar. “City of Marrow” from SOLACE & SORROWS is beautiful and dark. Of course, “Kingdom of the Mice” is probably one of the most disturbing, and fun, songs I’ve heard in awhile. Anyone whose been in their kitchen in the dark and seen that quick, dark, shape blur across their floor, and get a thrill of fear from something so small, will listen to this song and go, “I knew mice weren’t just cute Disney characters.” BLESSINGS is as close to a religious album as my faith gets. I love “Hymn to Herne”. It was my request at the end of the concert. I also love “Come to the Labyrinth” from this album.
She’s about my own height, but her voice is huge.
She did a couple of songs that aren’t recorded yet, and are only avaiable on YouTube right now. One was “Ravens in the Library”, which was too fun.
We took some video of the concert with her permission, and will try to take some stills from it, and put up more about the concert later, but I didn’t want to wait for technology to catch up with the blog. I was too impatient, and wanted to share with you guys, what a great time we had, now.
It must have been a good time because we got home about 2:30 A. M. No, she did not sing that whole time. After she finished her second set, she, and her crew, stayed and talked. The visiting was not better than the music, nope, but it was very cool, and fun. S. J. burns with her muse the way I do with mine. I don’t see many performers that are as in tune with their inner voice, as I am. It’s always nice to meet another light. Why the word “light”, because it is a kind of glow, and people are drawn to it. Some nights you feel lost in the dark, and you will put on music, or a movie, or read a book, so that some of the light of that creation can shine on you, and you feel connected again. You know you are not alone in the dark, because there is light touching your ears, your eyes, your finger tips.
In case you want some light of your own, here’s the web site: www.sjtucker.com, or, and, www.skinnywhitechick.com for music and merch. Enjoy, I know I did.