Neko Case, The Tigers Have Spoken (Anti, 2004)
A live album often signals either contractual obligation for a musical act that's treading water, or one that has nothing new to offer and hopes to cash in with a padded set of previously released material. But neither is the case with this vibrant live offering from alt-country singer Neko Case. Recorded earlier this year during performances in Chicago and Toronto, The Tigers Have Spoken mostly offers new songs, rarities and off beat covers by a singer who is quickly moving to the top of the alternative country world.
On most of this album, she is backed by the ultra-hip Canadian alt-country band The Sadies, whose frontman Dallas Good provided hot guitar licks on her most recent studio release, 2002's Blacklisted. Another of her regular backers, Jon Rauhouse, sits in on pedal steel, and two powerhouse singers, Kelly Hogan and Carolyn Mark, back her up vocally. But the show is clearly Case's with her soaring vocals, sharp songwriting and good ear for a classic cover.
It opens with a new song written by Case, "If You Knew," an up tempo bit of '70s-style country soul, with sweet call-and-response backing from Willis. A little later on comes an early Case song previously available only to bootleggers and other obsessives, the gospel-flavored "Favorite." Case also turns in a soaring take on "Blacklisted," a dark, apocalyptic song of betrayal. The centerpiece, though, is the title track, a hard-hitting rock ballad that pays tribute to the spirit of all wild things kept in cages in this world. "They shot the tiger on his chain," goes the repeated refrain, over a chiming 12-string and a kick-drum that thumps like a wild animal's racing heart.
Case's sense of fun and her appreciation for a good song of any genre comes through on her choice of cover material. These include Buffy Sainte Marie's poppy folk, "Soulful Shade of Blue"; the Brill Building pop of "Train from Kansas City," a Shangri-La's B-side; Loretta Lynn's gleeful send-up of double-standards, "Rated X"; and the spine-tingling waltz by Catherine Irwin of Freakwater, "Hex." The multi-part harmonies on this one are breathtaking. Oh, and don't overlook "Loretta," a bit of offbeat rock from an '80s cult band called Nervous Eaters, that the Sadies turn into a surf-punk workout.
The album ends on a couple of traditional notes, with a flat-out bluegrass take on "This Little Light of Mine," backed by Jim and Jennie & the Pinetops, and a bare-bones version of "Wayfaring Stranger," with 200-some audience members at a Toronto arts symposium backing Case on the chorus.
Stick around for a hidden track of concert dialogue, in which Case, with an eye to saving the wild tigers, offers her own darkly humorous version of Swift's "A Modest Proposal."
The Tigers Have Spoken, at only about 35 minutes, just whets the appetite for more of Neko Case's delights. We're promised a full-length studio release sometime in 2005. In the meantime, you can learn more, and download some sample tracks, at Anti's generous Web site.
