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Michelle Malone
Sugarfoot
(SBS)
First Appeared in The Music Box, October 2006, Volume 13, #10
Written by John Metzger
On her latest effort Sugarfoot, Michelle Malone continues to offer a
stylistic jumble of material, and this time, she swerves from the gospel-bred
intonations of Beyond the Mountain to the folk-pop of Down to the
mainstream rock of Where Is the Love. As was the case with her previous
endeavors, however, it’s when she sinks deeply into the blues that her music
packs its greatest punch. By using a series of repetitive, slide guitar licks to
echo the creaking of a mattress, for example, she heightens the sexual aura that
drips from Tighten Up the Springs, and in appropriating Robert Plant’s
fierce, devilish howls, she succeeds not only in laying waste to Miss
Miss’ippi but also in settling into the backwater, acoustic refrains of
Winter Muscadine.
There’s little doubt that Malone revels in the freedom of being an
independent artist, and she subsequently indulges her interests wherever they
happen to lead. The problem, however, is that her self-reliance means that there
also isn’t anyone around to tell her when she’s traversing a path that isn’t
likely to bear fruit. Nowhere is this more apparent than on Where Is the Love,
a song that fails miserably in both of its incarnations, and while Down
might accomplish the task of breaking up the monotony of her hard-driving,
blues-rock fare, its political message is seriously tempered by its lightweight,
Sheryl Crow-derived arrangement. With both Sugarfoot and its predecessor
Stompin’ Ground, Malone has proven that she has the talent and the range
to compete with what the major labels are offering, but what’s lacking is the
focus that is necessary for turning a decent slate of songs into a riveting,
cohesive album. 
Sugarfoot is available from Amazon.
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2006 The Music Box
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