Events

[INDIE] Neko Case stepped out from the shadows some 10 years back when her fourth solo album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood unexpectedly sold over 200,000 copies—”indie gold” in this day and age. A singer-songwriter who’s dabbled in Americana (The Sadies, Cub), indie-pop (New Pornographers) and punk (Maow), her idiosyncratic brand of brand of alt-folk has since penetrated mass consciousness via vigorous in-coffeehouse rotation of tracks like “I Wish I Was the Moon” and her cover of Neil Young’s “Dreamin’ Man.” 2009’s Middle Cyclone was so hotly anticipated, it debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 chart, then setting a record as the highest ever debut chart entry for an indie release. Sounding a bit like Tammy Wynette after a few shots of bourbon, Case’s all-natural vocal approach resonates deeply with listeners that value the ability to convey emotional range over precision pitch. Not surprisingly, she went out on a limb back in 2006 and told Pitchfork that she couldn’t take auto tuned recordings seriously, likening its use to, “jizzing saccharine all over you.” Salty, saucy, sultry and strong-willed, Case’s voice is matched bit-for-bit with her compelling musical choices. Moments of reverb-heavy girl-group pop get contrasted with shards of dissonance and darkness, all bathed in a dreamlike gauze that conveys shades of confusion and danger. Comi-tragic threads often run through, glimpsing her taste for inappropriate humor (she’s been featured in a couple Aqua Teen Hunger Force projects, including a holiday duet with Meatwad entitled “Santa Left a Booger in My Stocking”), which also fuels her off-color stage banter. And yet, even when talking about how bad the bus smells, Case’s earthy sex appeal never falters. Though others out there are cooking with a similar recipe, few are doing it as well as Case has. Her new vinyl box, Truckdriver, Gladiator, Mule, contains her complete solo output, tracking the evolution of her sound from the Wanda Jackson-inspired honkytonk styling of 1997’s The Virginian to the sophisticated pop of 2013’s The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, which garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. Neko Case comes to Babeville’s Asbury Hall with Jennifer O’Connor on Saturday, February 27.