My initial impression upon hearing this was "oh man I do not like her voice!" It's that sort of speak-not-sing sort of thing you got a lot with female punk singers like Toyah Wilcox, Lene Lovich and The Flying Lizards. The first two tracks I didn't like at all, and settled in for a sort of auto-pilot to thank god that's over.
Then the third track changed everything. Much more laid-back, almost acoustic sound and her voice was suddenly more in the slightly more mature rather than teenage mould, singing rather than kind of I don't know, pouting to the music? Anyway I liked it much better, and it pretty much improved from then on. I ended up listening to the full extended version, and though usually I wouldn't do that, it was well into it before I thought "this is a bit long for ten tracks!" and then realised, but I also realised I was hearing my favourite songs. "Smile", "Deb Behind Bars", the Prince and Van Morrison covers, all great, and the last track too.
But of those on the original album, I must say I liked "She Can't Say That Anymore" and "He Dines Out on Death" the best. Favourite overall is "Smile". Much better than I had thought or expected it would be, and as others have said, a fun album. Worth listening to a few times.
Rating: 8.8/10
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018
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