Texas Platters

Tricia Mitchell

Tricia Mitchell's songs feel familiar in their soft country-folk settings ("Lilly's Verses," "For This"), but they bear a lyrical sharpness at once clever and provocative ("Bobby Joe Plays Violin") and even laugh-out-loud witty ("Girlfriend of the Band"). One of Mitchell's literary tricks is a flat resolution in her storytelling: "Twenty Years to Life" spins the tale of an abused woman who kills her husband and yet mourns his death. Mitchell also fires off fine rock ("Crybaby," "Valerie") and Texas-flavored twang ("Never Say 'I Do'").