While
Rosie Flores' music can certainly flirt with country, it's married to the more general sound of Americana. Drawing on rockabilly, '60s garage band pop, and California-style big guitar country-rock,
Flores' makes her music her own with her unique voice and spicy guitar leads.
Once More With Feeling features a host of Los Angeles session veterans on 12 tracks incorporating each of
Flores' tricks and all of her favorite styles. From the memory-laden solo acoustic hum of "Bandera Highway" to "Someday"'s shimmering Cali country sashay,
Feeling continues and expands on the sound of 1992's
After the Farm.
Flores' voice is a mixture of honey and hot sauce and lets her sing with lovelorn longing or honest characterization. The latter trait comes in especially handy on the trailer park juke fantasy "Girl Haggard" and informs the bluesy come-on of "Real Man," which features a typically cutting
Flores guitar solo. She never fully takes on any of her numerous influences; instead,
Flores plays them off of one another, like when the San Antonio memories of "Bandera Highway" give way to the conjunto-style accordion of "It's Over."
Once More With Feeling will appeal to anyone who's a fan of Lone Star beer, rockabilly revivalism, and tumbleweed twang. ~ Johnny Loftus