Quirky NY Chick: Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast's Over The Undercover

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast's Over The Undercover

4:32 PM | Posted by Quirky NY Chick

At the end of May, I went to see Caitlin Krisko & The Broadcast perform. It was a show I was looking forward to based on having heard their new full length debut record Over The Undercover which is scheduled for digital release on June 15. The record is a nice slice of Sunday afternoon back porch and sweet tea soul with dashes of pop and folk blended in.

I've been listening to Over The Undercover for about a month or so now. The first thing that catches you is the voice of Caitlin Krisko. She has a rich soulful instrument that goes from sultry to vulnerable and back again with ease. Krisko reaches down in her soul and comes up a grand amount of passion that sucks the listener in. With every inflection, be it subtle or blistering, she makes the listener feel all of the pain and pleasure of each song.

Krisko, who wrote/co-wrote all ten songs on Over The Undercover proves she's not just a good singer but also a good songwriter. She dishes up acoustic based fiery soul as is the case with "Little Release" and "Exactly Like Today." The powerful "Pull The Trigger" takes on a bluesy R&B stance and Krisko lays it all out there for the world to see, raw and open. At the same time, she proves capable of delicate piano driven pop leanings with the stunning "Let In Love" one of the two songs on the album co-written with The Broadcast's keyboard player Rich Brownstein.

The first time I listened to "The Unintelligible Truth," I thought to myself, this is one hell of a song with it's sweet toned guitar solo. Krisko and her band The Broadcast opened their show with this song when I saw them and nailed it all up to the wall leaving me with one of those "DAMN!" moments that you get when you've just been smacked by something good. Since then, this song has moved to the top of my list of favorites.

Krisko, with The Broadcast, Brownstein, Nick Coolidge (bass), Michael W. Davis (drums), Tyler Householder (percussion) and Dave Rosenthal (guitar) have put together ten ear pleasing tracks. Over The Undercover is one of those records that you can't really pick out just one standout song on. Some records you like a song or two and after the first few times, you don't really listen to the album as a whole. This is not one of those records. While each track stands well alone, Over The Undercover is a record that can be fully appreciated as a whole without hitting the skip button on any songs.

"Pull The Trigger"

"Love Come Now" (live at the Over The Undercover record release show, May 30)