The Chapin Sisters, 'Lake Bottom LP' (Plain Recordings)

Los Angeles family folk trio tinge their harmonies with dark wit.

In 2004, the Chapin Sisters' acoustic cover of Britney Spears' "Toxic" began popping up on Los Angeles radio stations; the trio may have been singing through smirks, but they converted the dance-pop grind into a genuinely unnerving (maybe even prescient?) saga of self-destruction. That gothic sarcasm carries over to their debut album, where they overcome a precious conceit -- three sisters singing in immaculate three-part harmony over spare acoustic arrangements -- by folding in black comedy ("Don't want to live sad and lonely / So go get a rock / And just stone me").

Comments

Got something to say?

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • No HTML tags allowed
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Use <!--pagebreak--> to create page breaks.

More information about formatting options

Are You Human?
If so, enter the four-letter code below to post your comment.
Image CAPTCHA