Sister Vanilla

Little Pop Rock

(Chemikal Underground)

Record Review by Marcel Feldmar

From the initial strangeness of the album cover, which makes me think of '80s semi-goth-industrial bands like Front 242, the Severed Heads, and Chris & Cosey, to the slight twist of the title (it’s definitely pop and there is some rock, and maybe sometimes quiet – but never little…), Sister Vanilla just moves slightly on the surreal side of straightforward. While possibly overshadowed by the whole Jesus & Mary Chain reunion thing (I say "possibly" because the attention fallout from whatever the Reid Brothers are attempting to do on the JAMC side could also shed some deserved light upon this project) this sister's musical offering definitely stands on its own. The strong family resemblance aside, Linda Reid has a distinctive voice and style that is aided and abetted by her brothers rather than tramped upon by some sonic sibling rivalry.

I realize you may have no idea what I’m talking about, or maybe sorta kinda… so I’ll introduce the band. Jesus and Mary Chain circa 1998. Jim and William Reid, Ben Lurie (who also spent some time in the Gun Club), and you can figure out what the general sound falls around. I would add in a strong dash of the Stoned & Dethroned album as well. Then you take the female vocals from the Munki song “Moe Tucker” (sung by little sister Linda) and make a whole album. Seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it. It almost is, but I don’t think that’s all there is to the story. This isn’t a publicity stunt, this isn’t a fake band or a side-project. This is Linda Reid adding her own art to the family tree, and thankfully her family is supporting her.

The vocal stylings, while touching upon that Hope Sandoval smoothness, have an unmistakable Reid quality to them in the lyrics and the delivery, but this isn’t just JAMC redux, this is Sister Vanilla, and to appreciate that to its fullest you have to stop listening to the album as a Munki follow-up and start listening to it on its own terms. This is a real band that, while having strong connections to other bands, still sits strongly in your record collection alongside Mazzy Star, The Pastels, Opal, Velvet Underground, Mojave 3, and the first Cowboy Junkies record (just the first). It’s soft and bluesy and gritty and funny and heartfelt.

Linda is a folk singer storyteller rock star chanteuse, and thankfully she has some musicians supporting her who understand the feel she is going for. Not only the brothers Reid, but also, from the previously mentioned Pastels, we get some nice guest vocals from Stephan Pastel on the song “The Two Of Us”. I have a feeling that Sister Reid here has a strong sense of where she comes from and where her history lies, and loves it, and uses it to her advantage. Referencing the Pastels in another song, and the lines that make me smile in the song “K to be Lost”… “honey’s Dead and Psychocandy, I listened to them all the time. It’s all here, this language of music, these songs of love. The noise the groove the mood the pop the rock the sneer and the beauty. Regardless of the JAMC reunion and another new album, I’m gonna be listening to Sister Vanilla move ahead into her sonic legacy.