Rumble Doll proves that Patti Scialfa is more than a beautiful redhead with good connections. The 12 songs on the album don't necessarily jump out at the listener on the first listen. Instead, it's more of a slow seduction. Scialfa, who penned all the songs on the album, incorporates a '60s-style vibrato reminiscent of Ronnie Spector; however, the production is low-key compared to '60s girl singers produced by Phil Spector. There's not a bad song in the bunch, and the title track is a gem. {...   [ read more ]

CD $6.64

On 23rd Street Lullaby as on her 1993 debut, Rumble Doll, songwriter Patti Scialfa walks a tightrope between the optimistic, street-corner rootsy rock & roll of Dion, Laura Nyro, Doc Pomus, and Garland Jeffreys and the sober, prickly modern visions of true believers like Melissa Etheridge, Sam Phillips, and Mike Ness. This is a labyrinthine album. Scialfa's characters live in the broken space between the heady promises of youth and the struggle to maintain idealism, faith,...   [ read more ]

CD $43.68

Patti Scialfa's second album, 23rd Street Lullaby, was a paean to the romantic, wild, unbridled joy of running around the New York City of the '70s -- a place that no longer exists -- as seen through the eyes of a wiser, seasoned, yet untamed adult heart. Play It as It Lays is its mirror image. Released just a shade over three years later (a brief time for Scialfa, whose debut set Rumble Doll was released in 1993) the songs on Play It as It Lays deal with doubt, heartbreak, betrayal, unce...   [ read more ]

CD $7.59