Its wasn’t until a full 45 minutes into And The One They Call Lightning that I was fully struck by how good this album is. The folk-fusion atmosphere of the rest of the album drops away, leaving only its best elements: a jazzy bassline, hip-hop influenced drumming, and Isabelle Fahmy and Natasha Szuber crooning out the line “my teacup is 2/3 half-empty, my stomach is 1/3 half-full.”
On this track, they sound like Tegan and Sara if they had the inner groove of Nelly Furtado. The rest of the album sounds like an attempt to prove folk music is still open to interpretation. It doesn’t hurt that the group also does a cover of Twisted Sister’s classic “We’re Not Gonna Take It” that puts Bif Naked’s sterile rehash to shame.
It’s funny when folk starts taking more risks than punk.