Sherry Rich & Courtesy Move – self-titled
Nowadays, Courtesy Move — a side project for Wilco members Jay Bennett, Ken Coomer and John Stirratt — has simply become another outlet of their careers as musicians. In addition to recording several tracks in 1996 without Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy (a couple of which ended up as a single on the Rockamundo label), Courtesy Move also contributed its talents as backing musicians to Steve Forbert’s ’96 album Rocking Horse Head, and lent live support to Arista Austin artist Jeff Black.
Another endeavor they apparently squeezed in between Wilco tours in December ’96 has just recently seen the light of day, though it’s not readily available on these shores. A new album by Australian singer Sherry Rich was recorded in Nashville with Courtesy Move as the backing band. Consisting primarily of upbeat melodic pop with occasional rootsy overtones, Rich’s self-titled disc would fit well in the company of such American artists as Kim Richey and Marti Jones.
“Polite Kisses,” an instantly catchy number, provides an ideal kickoff to a record that proceeds to deliver rockers, ballads and midtempo tunes without ever really losing the initial buoyancy put forth at the start. (And make sure to let the disc keep playing at the end, where a hidden track finds Bennett delivering a hilarious parody of “Polite Kisses.”) Other highlights include “Who’s That Girl”, a more rockin’ tune driven by a simple “Sweet Jane”-esque guitar riff and some fine “girly background vocals” from Rich, as the credits put it; the somewhat more countrified, acoustic touch of “Is That All You Wanted”; and “Things You Left Behind”, which takes some darker melodic turns amidst a slowed-down, brooding groove.
And then there’s “Beautiful, Talented & Dead”, far and away the highlight of the album — almost in spite of itself. Somehow a song about Kurt Cobain would seem to be inherently a bad idea, but Rich makes this one stick on the strength of a melody so memorable that it immediately demands repeated listens. And while the lyrics do occasionally provoke a cringe — “Number one with a bullet in the head” — overall it comes across as a heartfelt rumination, not necessarily seeking to answer questions or lay blame, but simply lamenting the sadness of it all.
Less successful are the final track, “Little Miss Cool”, which tries to be funky but turns up tepid; and a cover of Badfinger’s “I’ll Be The One,” which just doesn’t seem to possess the punch of the originals here (somewhat surprising, given the general effervescence of the Badfinger catalog). Still, the overall accessibility of this collection, and the identity boost that the Courtesy Move connection provides, makes it somewhat surprising that no U.S. label has picked this up yet.