Ginger & Sarah Band
Vera Takes the Cake (Whistle Foot)
Phish-heads take heed: This isn’t exactly a “jam” album, solos being kept to a minimum, but that shouldn’t prevent anyone who routinely wears anything crocheted from liking it. A loose amalgamation of jazz, folk, and reggae, heavy on the acoustic guitar, busy bass, and timbales, and syncopated within an inch of its life, it is, however, too lightweight to really groove, yet too earnest to be considered pure pop. Ginger & Sarah’s tendency to digress into patches of neo-Beat speak-singing is also supremely off-putting. They call it channeling the muse; most will call it annoying. On the positive, “Crazy Anyway” features an enticing trumpet figure from Ephraim Owens, and the two ladies’ vocals are always husky and sassified; it would be interesting to hear what they could do with the Cole Porter songbook or something like that. As it is, Vera sounds perfect for tossing a Frisbee around Zilker Park, or coming down from a ‘shroom trip in the wee hours. Probably just the thing for Dave Matthews Band fans, or locally, folks who enjoy Lisa Tingle, Panic Choir, or early Sister 7. 
This article appears in May 5 • 2000.