Much like David Bowie was still very much Bowie when he shed his glam-rock persona in the mid-1970s and released the blue-eyed soul of Young Americans – an underrated masterpiece whose influence could be felt on recent U.S. Girls albums – Meghan Remy, the singer-songwriter behind U.S. Girls, always remains fundamentally herself. Her shifts in musical aesthetics never seem calculated. When she adopts a new genre, it happens effortlessly because the core of her artistic expression remains intact.
On her new album Scratch It, Remy transforms into a deeply American Southern singer. At a time as bewildering as ours, drawing from the cultural and aesthetic heritage of the United States can also be a form of healing. Echoes of Dolly Parton or Patsy Cline are unmistakable, especially when Remy sings: »I’m the queen of exorcising pain«. It’s a kind of everyday tragedy rooted in classic country music that she takes up on Scratch It – and counters with a defiant line: »You gotta dance ’til you feel better.«
This aesthetic fits not only Remy’s clear, cutting voice but also the current indie climate. Who would have guessed a decade ago that such an album could be considered trendy? When the harmonica kicks in on »The Clearing«, it doesn’t feel ironic – it feels right.
U.S. Girls remain funky on Scratch It – albeit in an expanded sense. The Southern influence extends beyond country music: the grooves nod to vintage Stax records, while the guitar work at times evokes Steve Cropper, the legendary guitarist for Booker T & the M.G.’s. Yet these aren’t just surface references. On the eleven-minute closer »Bookends«, sharp Telecaster fills gradually morph into rhythmic funk strumming that could just as easily have come from Nile Rodgers.
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Scratch It
