Editor's Picks 10/16: Mary Bragg, VANCAMP, The Shandies
Every week, Rainbow Rodeo editor Rachel Cholst picks the three best queer country albums of the week. This week features telling secrets to strangers, dangerous nostalgia, and family silences.
Each week, editor Rachel Cholst picks the best queer country to send you off into your weekend.
Mary Bragg – Secrets to Strangers
Secrets to Strangers uncoils with catlike grace – and a feline cutting edge. Mary Bragg shows us what decades in Nashville can do with flawless songs that ask us to confront the secrets around us: the ones, as singers often do, that get shared with strangers but also – most crucially – the ones we keep from ourselves. "Hi-Fi" is a prime example of this, in which Bragg interrogates the ways we sugarcoat our own memories to our detriment. As excellent as the writing is, though, Bragg's voice is the superior instrument here: "Way Back When" showcases her capacity is a torch singer, while the way she fills the space on "Champion Sleeper" suggests arena-worthy capacity. The deadliest impact, though, is on "The Game," about the delicate balance her wife keeps with her bigoted parents. Here, Bragg's clarion quality suggests a hymn, even as her pious in-laws radiate the opposite of the church's teaching. (And bonus points for the abstract lesbian pride flag album art.)
VANCAMP – House Parties in the Avenues
VANCAMP might seem cheery in his punk-inflected indie rock, but it's worth digging beneath the surface. There's the sweet optimism from the spring youth here, but also the knowledge that these memories will quickly fade into nostalgia. As our narrator reckons with a relationship that's nearing its expiration date, the exhilaration of the music contrasts with VANCAMP's lyrics: who can say what's next? It's definitely not this, though, and it's both cause for excitement and fear.
The Shandies – First Born
Married duo Shannon Stine and Natalie Wlodarczyk have returned with their fourth offering, First Born. On this exquisite album, The Shandies explore obligation and liberation through the lens of all the responsibilities the oldest child must hold: caregiving, emotional labor, stewarding the family secrets. It's no wonder the Shandies have earned a spot at the 30A Songwriters Festival. Stine and Wlodarczyk's elegant harmonies complement each other seamlessly. Dave Wilson's shimmering mandolin adorn the difficult decisions highlighted here with hope and grace. While there is sorrow and bitterness here, the Shandies complicate these emotions with serenity and acceptance – this is all part of life, and it's a cycle we must all experience, one way or another.
