Cat can cover classics

By Erin Mae Szrankowski
Collegian Editor
January 30, 2008

As most know, a jukebox is a large and colorful machine that holds many albums. They were mostly used in the ’50s by the young teenyboppers of the time. Sadly, today they have faded in the distance and we, the post-post-modern generation, face the ever-so random iPod shuffle. Consequently, jukeboxes are out of fashion, but Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) makes them hip again. Jukebox is her second covers concept album. Her last set of classics, dubbed The Covers Record, was released in 2000 and proved to be very successful. The Covers Record and Jukebox both enable Marshall to cover the artists who she has found inspirational.

When people think of covers, they think of a less talented version of a song they once loved. Well, I feel that Marshall does a good job of keeping these classics lively. Yes, her voice may sound bluesy and sultry, but the energy is still there.

The first track on Jukebox is Frank Sinatra’s “New York,” and it is a good ode to old blue eyes. This track leads straight into country legend Hank Williams’ “Ramblin’ Man.” Except this time it is replaced to look like “Ramblin’ (Wo)man,” to match the gender, of course. Marshall turns these rustic tunes into more contemporary blues/pop tracks.

On Jukebox, she also included a re-recording of “Metal Heart” from her 1998 album, Moon Pix. I prefer the original version, but the song is still spectacular and eternally well-written. “Aretha, Sing One For Me” is belted out with confidence and vigor, something that has lacked on her previous albums. The James Brown tune “Lost Someone” is sung by a more desperate-sounding Marshall.

One would be able to tell that Marshall was a huge Bob Dylan fan with her rendition of Dylan’s “I Believe in You” (Not to mention her turn on the I’m Not There soundtrack). Following it is her “Song To Bobby.” Don’t you wonder who that song is about? Joni Mitchell's “Blue” is the perfect closing track to this album. It feels like the end of the day, when lights are slowly being turned down, to only face a quiet darkness.

If someone turned on this album at the beginning or halfway, he or she might figure that it was an LP of Marshall’s personal material. That is what’s so likeable about this album—she makes the songs her own here. The arrangements on Jukebox are incredible. I give Marshall and her backing band a lot of credit. This is a good reminder of how much her musical identity has changed, from insecure to full-on confident.

szrankowskie1@lasalle.edu