October 30-November 5, 2003

musicpicks

Po' Girl

Rock/pop

Allison Russell and Trish Klein's bluesy folk is so stripped down, it's hard to believe they needed additional players. (The recent addition of fiddler Diona Davies to their live act makes Po' Girl a trio.) Guitarist/banjo player Klein writes and harmonizes more on Po' Girl (Hightone) than she does with The Be Good Tanyas, but her job description is the same: strum, pick and let the singer shine. Clarinetist Russell doesn't need anyone to let her do anything; when the spirit says sing, she sings. Whether she's slurring her way through Gone in Pawn (Shake Sugaree) or smoking out Bad Luck Day Baby, her supple voice makes the most of Po' Girl's mellow material and polite arrangements. She oversells it only once, when Bleak St. pinches Tom Waits' Ice Cream Man and gets downright rowdy. But her best moments are sublime: Malaise Days burns with futile envy, and the soulful What Sad Old Song? should be played at funerals alongside Sean Na Na's Princess and the Pony. Russell's reserved a spot in heaven with that one.

Wed., Nov. 5, 8:30 p.m., $8, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0770.

—M.J. Fine

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