In a continuation of the trend of women from the Alanis Era just now releasing some dubious second efforts, today i opened my mailbox to find a padded envelope from Patti Rothberg‘s management containing a copy of her new Candelabra Cadabra. Patti was (by far) my favourite of her ilk (also including Joan Osborne & Tracy Bonham), and i’ve held out hope for a spectacular second effort for years now. My first disappointment came when Patti was dropped from her label a few years back though she had recorded a “promising” disc tentatively titled My Name is Angus. Apparently this project got flushed as Patti dropped off the radar for another couple of years before resurfacing with her own domain name and acoustic shows throughout the Northeast Corridor. I attended one and was encouraged… Patti played a crop of wry new songs intermingled with her classics and was in good humour. The only down point was the presence of her overbearing and totally awful new sideman, Freddie Katz. Freddie played his guitar too hard, sang badly, and generally detracted from Patti’s overall presentation. He looked like a pirate with his hoopy earring and his black jeans. I think he might have been drunk (whereas Patti just managed to douse her guitar with Corona when she tried to get the lime to sink).

A sleek vinyl single was released at the same time as her new shows and it was terrific. It showed great sonic evolution while retaining the biting wit that makes Patti’s songs so unique. However, well over a year later her long-awaited second disc is nothing but disappointment. Gone are the fluttering acoustic guitars and clear but throaty lyrics, replacing with wanna-be indy-gal posturing and overly loud electric guitar played by good ol’ Freddie. A cover of the Bowie classic “Moonage Daydream,” boppy “Dish It Out,” and the charmingly cynical character in “Wry It Girl” are nearly the sole high points on this dismal effort which doesn’t once manage to display words or noises that hearken back to the genius i was expecting. And, lest you think that my comparative criticism is unfair, you should know that i would have never touched this album if i didn’t already like Patti … everything from the campy gothic lettering to the murky red photo on the back of the booklet screams “bargain bin” and the music doesn’t do much otherwise.

I hope beyond all hopes that the album grows on me, because it sincerely hurts me to not like it. Some of these songs were fresh and new in concert, but these arrangements and production values have a stranglehold on their livelihood. I hope that Patti and her album find the right audience and i wish her continued success, but i’m not sure i’ll be shelling out $16 to be a part of it next time…