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Nobody's
Girl Releases Waterline |
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Nobody’s Girl a trio of young women from Austin, Texas (Rebecca Loebe,
Grace Pettis and BettySoo) have released a terrific new album titled
Waterline, comprised of
mostly original songs, plus a cover of the Blondie hit “Call Me,” which
they do in fine fashion. Of all the songs on the album the title track
“Waterline,” signals that this is a Pop / Rock group with the potential
to be something really special. The harmonies are superb and subtle the
way harmonies are meant to be, three voices blending into one and yet
each having a distinct role to play.
Drummer J.J. Johnson keeps the beat on “Waterline,” David Grissom on
electric guitar leads the way eloquently and bass guitarist Glenn
Fukunaga is his equal.
BettySoo from Nobody’s Girl took time out from her busy schedule and her
touring to talk to Riveting Riffs Magazine about
“Waterline,” and the new album.
The metaphor used in the song is of water rising and you do not realize
it until you are under water. You are in the middle of a disaster. As
you get older and you get into adulthood there are things that don’t
turn out the way that you wanted them to and there were signs all along
the road.
All of us have lived in Texas for a long time and I grew up around a lot
of flood culture it just seemed like a very salient metaphor for us,”
she says.
As for why the group decided to name the album after the song
“Waterline,” BettySoo says, “We had the most emotional investment in
that song. We also felt that the forming of the group, the record deal
and with all of the momentum that it was a demarcation point for all of
us. Even though, it is a grim marker, a waterline just expressed how we
felt.”
There is always a danger in covering an iconic song by an equally iconic
band, group or solo artist that it will draw comparisons to the original
that are both unfair and that fail to recognize what the new artist or
group brings to their rendition. With all that being said, Nobody’s Girl
went ahead and recorded the 1980 song by Blondie, “Call Me,” a tune that
went to # 1 in America, the U.K. and Canada. In fact, it was Blondie’s
biggest and most sustained hit song.
It prompted the question why not choose a song that would be less likely
to bring the critics out of the woodwork?
“We like the perspective of a really respected, badass, female writer
(Debbie Harry who co-wrote the song with Giorigio Moroder) who is still
at it, who is still out there touring, who still owns her message and
who has a punky demeanor. The lyrics of the song ooze so much confidence
and they challenge you. We all thought that was pretty great.
We all grew up as fans of Blondie and we wanted another Pop type song to
put on the record. We have a ton of songwriter friends whose songs we
could have covered, but I think Grace mentioned it as a song that she
always wanted to cover and Rebecca and I just jumped on it, because we
love “Call Me.”
Nobody’s Girl nails
“Call Me.” That is all you need to know.
The opening song on the album is “What’ll I Do,” featuring Grace Pettis
on lead vocals and she brings grit, edge and a stunning vocal
performance to this original song. The background vocals by BettySoo and
Rebecca Loebe are sublime. If we had to pick just one reason to buy
Nobody’s Girl’s album Waterline,
this song would be the reason. It is sung well, played well and in a
live setting one can easily envision concertgoers singing along to the
chorus.
The downside of the song “What’ll I Do,” is the song is also included on
Waterline as an acoustic version. The acoustic version is not bad, but
because it is placed on this record and as the last song it leaves the
listener with the lasting impression that this is a stripped down, slow
moving song and that does not cater to the strengths of Nobody’s Girl,
which is fabulous harmonies and lyrics that are energized by three
passionate singers. The acoustic rendition of “What’ll I Do,” and the
fourth song “Bluebonnets,” would have been better served by including
them on an unplugged album.
Where the group really shines is on songs that pack a punch or are
edgier such as “Queen City,” and on the more Pop infused version of
“What’ll I Do.” However, one accoustic song that does work is “Riding
Out the Storm,” because the lyrics are cutting, the tempo picks up as
the song progresses and once again the splendid harmonies, of BettySoo,
Pettis and Loebe are showcased.
As the opening song for Waterline, “What’ll I Do,” engages the listener
with the first few bars and that is what you want, especially for a
group that is closer to the beginning of their collective careers than
it is to being a household name. Michael
Ramos did an excellent job in producing “What’ll I Do,” at Lucky Hound
Music in Fischer, Texas.
BettySoo recalls that the song was written when the three members of
Nobody’s Girl, when they were simply friends and before the band had
been performed, decided to go on tour together. For the most part they
had enough songs to flesh out a concert, but what they lacked were songs
that the three of them had written together. They would have been
completely dependent on songs they had written individually.
“We decided we should try to write a song together. It would be a
special point in the show, because the rest of the songs would probably
be our individual songs. We wanted one song that would be a special
moment for the audience and for us. We went on a writing retreat to
Fischer and we ended up writing three songs that night. “What’ll I Do,”
was one of them.
We all have in our notebooks, tablets and phones fragments and little
ideas for songs. We were pulling up stuff and I think Grace said I have
this little fragment called “What’ll I Do (and then she adds the words)
about you?” We said let’s write that.
That was the beginning of our getting a record deal and becoming a band.
The people at the studio also have Lucky Hound Records and they just
loved the songs that we wrote out there. With the exception of that
cover “Call Me,” the rest of the songs are songs that the three of us
wrote together and we really did pour over every single line together.
It is some of the most even co-writing that I have done in my life.
Two lines that jump out from the song “What’ll I Do,” are “I can see
that you got a tattoo / Is that supposed to be Van Gogh?” BettySoo talks about how those lines became a part of the song, “We were just talking about that guy or that girl that we all know and who is a fun flirt at the bar and a good hang. There is always a little ambiguity about whether they want more or not. It is about that kind of personality and the silly things that they do that you know you should be rolling your eyes at, but you still crush on them anyway. They always get a cliché tattoo. We said oh of course he would get a tattoo of Starry Night or something then we thought it would be worse than that; he would just get Van Gogh’s face on his arm. It just seems like such a ridiculous thing.
At the same time there is something loveable about the person having a
tattoo of Van Gogh somewhere on their body. There is something innocent
about it. We had so many ideas about who that guy is. I think he is five
ten and about one hundred and thirty pounds and everybody in town gives
him a free pass on stuff, because he is like everybody’s kid brother.”
Pettis, BettySoo and Loebe all have their roots in the south, although
BettySoo is the only one originally from Texas growing up near Houston.
Loebe lived in Georgia and Virginia, while Pettis spent time in Alabama
and Georgia. That southern flavor is further enhanced with the inclusion
of the original song “Queen City,” which pays homage to Kelly Mitchell
dubbed “The Queen of the Gypsy Nation,” and who was buried in
Meridian, Mississippi. Although, not a love song or a sexually charged
tune, Rebecca Loebe’s lead vocals are sultry.
“Grace brought a story that she had read recently about Kelly Mitchell
who had been the queen of Romani (the Gypsy Nation) in America. She
lived and was buried in Meridian, Mississippi and when she passed
something like 20,000 people made a pilgrimage to be there for this
giant funeral. Since then people have made pilgrimages to her gravesight
(at Rose Hill Cemetery). We thought it was a fascinating story and the
town has been nicknamed Queen City in her honor. At the time that we
wrote it there seemed to be a lot of news stories about discrimination
against Romani people. We thought we would write a song that remembered
the celebration of the Romani people (about the life of Kelly
Mitchell),” says BettySoo.
Both instrumentally and vocally the ballad possesses a mystical aura and
the story of Kelly Mitchell’s life and death at age 47 (in 1915) is told
so well that it prompted this writer to delve into learning more about
the mother of 14 children.
There are many things to like about the song “Queen City,” the
musicianship, the lyrics and the vocals. This is simply a well written
song and both the musicians who backed Nobody’s Girl for this album and
the trio of singers bring to life a legendary figure.
BettySoo talks about having a band available to them for Waterline, “It
was unusual for us, because all three of us are used to playing a lot on
our records. We didn’t even play an accoustic guitar, which is really
strange. We had this embarrassment of riches of musicians who were there
for the sessions. We didn’t need to add to it for vanity’s sake.
It (took some pressure off) not having to play, because it was all
happening so quickly. We were
still polishing up some of the songs in the studio. On day two in the
studio we rewrote half of the title track. It allowed us to concentrate
on allowing us to focus on rearranging our harmony parts and the
delivery of the songs, as we were developing them.
I think it allowed us to focus on the parts that were most
essential for us.”
For a debut seven song record (“What’ll I Do recorded,” twice) Waterline
has enough gems on it that Riveting Riffs Magazine finds it easy to
recommend purchasing this Extended Play or if you prefer shorter album.
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“The
song “Waterline,” is the most straight ahead Rock song on the record. It
is a little less Pop and positive. David Grissom’s guitar is all over it
and he is really fantastic. The song is about things slowly coming
apart. 