DOWNBEAT

06/27/08

DEFIANTLY UNORTHODOX
Deering and Down: Break This Record (Diamond -D) ***1/2
All we may ask of blues-rock bar bands is to make a decent album, but there’s plenty more to the third effort by two former residents of remote blues outpost Alaska now living in Memphis. Lahna Deering sings cryptic words on love and life in an oddly attractive voice that is equal parts factory soot and exhaled helium. Rev. Neil Down’s fine, surprising guitar draws from the classic Chuck Berry tradition as a means of reaching its own mutant voice. Their rhythm section keeps strength and delicacy in a fluid balance. Original songs are catchy, sensual and unorthodox.
by Frank -John Hadley – DOWNBEAT