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Album Details

• Artist: Liz Janes
• Album: Poison & Snakes
• Label: Asthmatic Kitty
• Year of Release: 2004
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: bbuckingham on 2005-03-16

From the intro to the southern-soul/girl group mash-up "Wonderkiller" through to the ukelele-driven "Baby Song", a paean to impending parenthood, Liz Janes frequently captivates on Poison & Snakes.

Janes’ second release on the Asthmatic Kitty label (co-owned by Sufjan Stevens), Poison & Snakes weaves country, folk, Syd Barrett-esque shamblers, soul, slow burning prairie torch songs and indie pop into a batch of rewarding songs. Though much of Poison & Snakes feels familiar, Janes somehow casts these notions aside with her expressive voice and quirky song craft.

On the title track, Janes' countrified voice wraps around the swelling chorus and finely woven arrangement, combining to paint a vast canvas full of campfires and big skies. "Desert" is seven minutes of dream pop, filtered through albatross guitars, muted sad strings and spacious droning vocals.

With Poison & Snakes, Janes avoids the pitfalls that many singer-songwriters face simply by allowing her songs to sneak out of genre confines. Poison & Snakes makes for rewarding listening, and Asthmatic Kitty is seemingly shaping up to be an Asylum Records for the 00s.

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