D Nuts || July 10, 2007

St. Vincent's record is out in stores today. Since I don't have my Web/FTP software handy, you'll have to accept a CD review on this chunk of the page rather than on the sidebar. I'm sure you can deal. Enjoy! -SM

St. Vincent

Marry Me (Beggars Banquet)

If you're looking for a proper review of Marry Me, stare at its cover, its protagonist. Against a barren background, Annie Clark, the "woman" in this one-woman band, expresses a curious, vulnerable confidence. Perhaps it's the look she thinks she'd give the man crazy enough to actually accept her request for marriage, but more importantly, the album sounds like Clark looks in the photo.

Though ground is not broken on Marry Me, it's certainly battered and sprained. Clark runs through the aggro-political-upright female songwriter canon--from Harvey to Spektor, from Amos to Apple, Clark tacks her last name onto a pretty obvious list. But that kind of description doesn't give the 24-year-old Dallasite enough credit for the unique quality she brings to such a list: sweetness. Whether spitting fire in the pounding "Your Lips Are Red" or piloting a trippy, crashing plane of guitar notes and choir squalls in "Now. Now.", Clark's vocal delivery manages to consistently remain...well, respectfully cocky. Though it's a weird way to put it, it's a fresh change of pace from the deliberately brazen, often over-threatening tone you'd expect from her most recent comrades.

The result might turn off listeners hoping for more blood or tenacity in Clark, but her sharp teeth are most evident in her wit, not her vengeance. Clark's clever turns of phrase never become too coy; in the title track, you'll grin at lines like "Let's do what Mary and Joseph did / without the kid" without having to worry about a cheeky line hiding around every corner.

Though the record is ultimately a bit too scattershot, that fact is understandable on a debut record; unity is abandoned for the sake of stretching muscles, showing off Clark's various wares. And thankfully, as a resume and a sign of things to come, Marry Me doesn't have to beg.

--Sam Machkovech