I kind of like obscurities and have a well known fondness for offbeat female singers. Whilst offbeat is too strong a term for Eliza Jaye and the Tarts (and they certainly don’t deserve obscurity either) there was something that felt conventional or perhaps, more accurately, comfortable about this four track EP. Maybe it is the relocation from Australia - from whence Ms Jaye hails - to our green and pleasant land that causes the absorption of musical influences.
Make no mistake, these songs aren’t derivative. They do, however, echo many other female singers at the classy end of the market which is probably deliberate. Cleverly using the violin of Anna McInerney to paint a sonic picture of the underlying emotions nicely counterpoints the laconic, even sardonic vocals of Ms Jaye with this approach working especially well on “Crimson Lipstick”. Further on down that same road, “October” overflows with the kind of atmospheric nonchalance that I’d happily compare with the work of My favourite Tucson songstress Cathy Rivers (there I go with the obscure references…) before the post punk goes gypsy charms of “Black Heart Rum” spin us out of this EP.
So what conclusion is to be drawn from my ramblings about this EP? Is it a cunningly constructed attempt at mainstream success via the bedroom window using the tricks and tools of the trade? Perhaps, but Eliza Jaye and the Tarts are an eminently listenable band that interest and intrigue your ears and, while I’m not sure that I “got” the songs on this album, I know what I like and I liked this EP. Now that I think about it, it is the same kind of effect that Shelby Lynne has on me and she has done OK. I reckon Eliza Jaye and the Tarts will do just fine as well.