The Bottom Line
Pros
- Ol Cook Pot
- Down to the River
- Moses Don't Get Lost
- Domino Party!
Cons
- Their fabulous live energy just can't be captured on disc
Description
- Some fantastic re-arrangements of traditional tunes and contemporary covers
- They actually pull off zydeco on the album's strongest track
- Another wonderful effort from these Canadian grassrockers
Guide Review - The Duhks - Migrations
Migrations opens up with an excellent run of cover tunes – "Ol' Cook Pot," followed by Tracy Chapman's "Mountains of Things." Halfway through the record comes "The Fox and the Bee," a three-movements-long piece that includes two originals and one traditional instrumental Breton tune which, according to the liner notes, is "named after the dance it is meant to accompany."Then it's on to an impressive foray into zydeco with "Down to The Rive/Jeb's Tune." Imagining a grassrock band even dreaming of pulling off zydeco seems somewhat like a delusion, but The Duhks do a swell job of the task, and the song comes off as one of the best efforts on the whole disc.
Later, on the old gospel tune, "Moses, Don't Get Lost," vocalist Jessee Havey gets to display her incredible command of her already bluesy vocal range. It's always impressive to hear a woman hit such low notes while still mainting a crystal clear tone, and Havey does so with apparent ease. By the time her band mates start clapping in the background, you almost can't help but join in.
Unfortunately, much of the intense energy and magic of a Duhks live show just can't be translated onto a record, and that's the only thing really missing here. Still, the band is a collection of five impressively talented players and singers, and they definitely earn their keep on Migrations.
