The Garden Place
Various Artists
Yep Roc
This benefit for the United Way and family violence and rape crisis centers leads off with the money track, a five-minute live version of “I’ve Found a New Baby” by the Squirrel Nut Zippers. It isn’t explicitly stated, but I’d wager most of these bands are from the Chapel Hill/NC area. Other notables that make an appearance are Trailer Bride, Darren Jesse (of the Ben Folds Five), Portastatic, Hobex (with Greg Humphries of Dillon Fence) and Two Dollar Pistols. The other names are unknown to me, but no less talented – the overall sound lies between country, blues and Southern rock, with a few exceptions (the Jumpstarts’ “My, My,” an oddly metered skalypso comes to mind), but things are consistently excellent and each artist is unique. The Garden Place provides more than a handful of new leads to investigate further (Hawk’s Eye Pope “Devil In The Whiskey” is a sparse and haunting blues number, and Faustina’s slow and dangerous “Feels New,” along with the aforementioned Jumpstarts track, are three that made me sit up and listen). Worthwhile and solid. Yep Proc Records, P.O. Box 4821, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-4821
