Romi Mayes
Sweet Somethin’ Steady
(Indie)

A

Goddamn, this is a good record. I’ve listened to it backward and forward and around and around, and that’s what I keep coming back to… a smile, a shake of the head and an inarticulate epithet. Here’s the thing — Mayes first caught my ear when she teamed up with guitarist Chris Carmichael in 2002. At the time, they played every shitty bar gig they could find. Even when there were only four people in the room, the two always delivered a nugget of something special, so to hear the potential of those days fulfilled in these 11 songs is simply a wonderful thing. Romi’s skill as a songwriter is now fully realized on wonderfully bittersweet, self-referential tunes such as Smoke More Than I Drink or Desperately, and in the title track she’s written an anthem for experienced single women everywhere. Carmichael, who plays guitar, sings and even adds drums, is this album’s MVP, while the likes of Scott Nolan (bass) and Dan Walsh (various guitars) give the songs the settings they deserve. — JK