Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs

Medicine County (Transdreamer)

By Emily Becker
Published: April 6th, 2010 | 7:00am

On their third outing, Medicine County, Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs follow 2008’s Dirt Don’t Hurt with a collection of original songs and a few traditionals that befit the duo’s newly chosen home in rural Georgia.

Medicine County pairs Golightly with her partner-in-crime, Lawyer Dave, and draws from blues, swamp rock, country, and bluegrass, while succeeding in cultivating those influences into a cohesive whole. On “I Can’t Lose,” the lyrics, which compare card playing to the game of love (“It’s a game of up and down / Play it with some other clown / For all you know I might just clean you out”) are about as original as the fiddle, which carries the song’s melody—but it is still satisfying to listen to Golightly’s version of how these timeworn parts fit together. Medicine County is often a somber affair (“Murder in My Mind,” “Dearly Departed”), yet Golightly can turn on a dime and lighten the mood. Such is the case with “Escalator,” a hyperbolic romp whose lyrics articulate every child’s worst escalator fear: “Well you ate my brother and my stroller then / You ate my mother and her new boyfriend / Escalator!”

While Medicine County is a solidly entertaining effort, Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs fail to rise above the constraints of the genres they choose to sample—and is the only thing keeping the record from transcending, rather than simply upholding, the musical traditions that inspire their work. But, perhaps transcendence wasn’t on Golightly’s agenda. Just because her music sounds like its many predecessors doesn’t make it phony, and it would be a mistake to see Golightly akin to a Southern snake oil salesman on the grift. Listeners who are willing to accept that will find good, old-fashioned remedy in Medicine County.

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Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs official site

Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs MySpace

Transdreamer