Music Reviews

Terre's three self-written songs, simply put, are among her best. "Gung Ho" is the kind of carefree comedy that she used to seemingly toss off with ease. And at the other end of the emotional spectrum, she references 9/11 in both "Only You Know How" ("Did you ever take a walk to the edge of town / Back before the airplanes came and took the buildings down") and "September Eleventh at the Shambhala Center." The former has one of the album's best examples of the Roches' revivified melodies and harmonies. And "September Eleventh" - well, this is actually 9/11/02, with Terre looking back from that first anniversary and trying to comfort adults, children, and the newborn. Her words are sage, and her tune is heartbreakingly beautiful, enough to mist the eyes. I speak from experience.

Terre and Suzzy used to write together, too, and here they team up again for "Piggy Mask" (referencing a scene from Roman Polanski's Bitter Moon), "Instead I Chose" (a shimmering tale of, well, What Ifs), and a classic bit of typical-Roche-atypical-humor called "Huh." Sure is great to have that humor back, even if the two best laughs on Moonswept are covers: "No Shoes" and "Jesus Shaves," both written by one "Paranoid Larry." Still, there was a time when the Roches knew how to make covers their own ("Factory Girl," "On the Road to Fairfax County," "Clothes Line Saga"), and they do it here by giving "No Shoes" an irresistibly arched vocal hook and by telling "Jesus Shaves" in their delicious deadpan before blossoming on the choruses. They also go back to 1954 for the Ames Brothers' No. 3 hit "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane," one of the first songs the sisters learned to sing. And they go forward, as it were, with Roche "sister" No. 4 - actually, Lucy Wainwright Roche, daughter of Suzzy and Loudon Wainwright III (and half-sister of Rufus Wainwright), who contributes and sings "Long Before" in the voice of an angel.

What makes Moonswept even more validating is that returning producer Lerman has finally ditched the backing bands and allowed the Roches to be the Roches. The trio has never really sounded "right" with a bunch of musicians, even when, on Nurds, they included Television bassist Fred Smith and Patti Smith Group drummer Jay Dee Daugherty and were guided by legendary Simon & Garfunkel producer Roy Halee. The only time any augmentation worked was on Speak, where the late-1980s synths actually complemented the writing. Otherwise, it's best to leave the trio to its own devices - guitars and voices - as Robert Fripp knew best, whether producing them utterly dryly in "audio verité" for The Roches or giving them reverberant warmth and depth for Keep On Doing. On Moonswept, thankfully, Lerman lets them play their guitars and pianos (and in the case of Terre, her Tibetan guitar and her ukulele, too) in the most natural of sonics. Garry Dial takes the keyboard on "Piggy Mask," and Lerman adds some miscellaneous touches, but otherwise it's all Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy in a thrilling throwback to their original organic sound.

And if a recent Long Island concert is any indication, the sisters are enjoying themselves and each other again. In the years before their hiatus, Roche concerts (like the era's Roche albums) were becoming samey and predictable. Here's hoping this new beginning will inspire them to dig deeper into their catalog. Honestly, they've asked "Mr. Sellack" for that job back enough times; give the man a rest! Instead, how about checking in again with "The Largest Elizabeth in the World"? More to choose from: "Runs in the Family," "My Sick Mind," "Losing True," "Everyone Is Good," "Feeling Is Mutual," the aforementioned "Nocturne." And how could we not want "Want Not Want Not"?

In the meantime, we could want nothing more than Moonswept. "We don't give out our ages," the Roches sang in 1979, but Maggie & Terre & Suzzy are now almost 56, 54, and 51. And even though the shit did hit the fan in New York City, they once again sound like those little kids - pretty and high and entirely alive.

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