Okra-Tone Records 4964

That name is a lot to live up to. The Demolition String Band is the flimsy
contraption propping up Elena Skye's voice. The instrumentation is
incidental and often amateurish on an album that may pass as country music
in some remote Northern corners of this fair land. Pulling Up
Atlantis
reeks of inauthenticity. It has all of the trappings of country or
bluegrass or honky-tonk, but lacks the spirit of any of the above. The
resulting sound is some lifeless, twangy amalgm of the three. Skye's voice
is clear but lacks personality, nuance, and range. An uninspired cover of
Madonna's "Like a Prayer" may serve as a cute novelty, but the, "Let's do
__________ but in a country/bluegrassy style!" idea is played out. The
brooding title cut is the most musically accomplished and the best of the
bunch here, but again Skye's voice lacks the depth and range to match the
spirit. In a year where a freak accident at the polls rewarded artistic
integrity and the the roots of the music attempted here at the Grammys, this
album feels to me like a mockery.