CORPORATE LINE: Spend enough time riding the rails in New York City’s subways and you’ll stumble across scores of guitarists and vocalists, drummers and flutists, violinists and saxophonists. Some better (or much better) than others, they head underground to make their living or just to play – often both. Every once in a great while you catch a busker whose songs and singing are clearly better than the subway, who-whether they know it or not yet – is about to catch the ear of an unsuspecting record exec, and be hoisted out of the gritty underworld and dropped into a recording studio.
Susan Cagle is one such performer. Yet, Susan wasn’t unsuspecting. If anything, she has long resisted her eventual ascent to the proverbial next level – but more on that later. For the past few years, the singer/songwriter/guitarist has been on the cusp of a breakout and her transition from subway platform to stage and studio begins with The Subway Recordings, an impossibly hooky full-length CD which marks Susan’s debut release for Lefthook/Columbia. With songs assembled from two distinct live performances–one in NYC’s famed Times Square station and the other in the subway beneath Grand Central–the rootsy, heartfelt disc showcases Susan’s voice in its purest form.
THE GOOD:
“Shakespeare” – The song has moments of catchiness—but at the end of the day it doesn’t separate itself from the plethora of teenage pop songs on the radio.
“Happiness Is Overrated” – It’s a reach to put this in the good category—but the hook is memorable and after a few listens it still danced in our head. The biggest problem is that the verses are slow and plodding and once the hook is over the song loses all of its momentum.
THE AVERAGE:
“Dream” – Cagle sounds a million miles away on the recording.
“Ask Me” – A sweet song that ends The Subway Recordings on a nice note after spending most of the time dozing off.
THE BAD:
Nothing.
FRANKLY: Recording The Subway Recordings in the subway probably wasn’t the most brilliant idea. As hard as the production team tried to recreate the live feel of Cagle’s subway shows, it doesn’t work. The songs sound dead and the ambient noise doesn’t offset the quality of a real record studio. Too much of The Subway Recordings is monotonous with songs like “Dream” and “Be Here.” The problem is the monotony starts at track two and never breaks out. Cagle’s story is great—the album isn’t.
+ Rae Gun
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