Fallout Rec. 
Monte Dunn & Karen Cruz : (US,1969,re.2008)***°
Monte Dunn, since the mid sixties, was an in demand musician on live and studio sessions (Tim Hardin, Richie Havens, Peter, Paul and Mary, Sonny & Cher, Fred Neil, Peter Walker, Jack Elliott, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Bob Gibson,..). In between these sessions he made just one album, together with his wife who’s mostly the main front singer and songwriter. Monte’s experiences seem to have provided him some ideas as a producer.
Karen Kruz just had her second child, and had already a life of several independent jobs before turning into music. Her inspirations seem to have come from life as small thoughts and experiences. Sometimes the lyrics carry the song well, with emotions and the right arrangements, but more often the songs pass quickly, and are completely absorbed by certain styles which enjoyment to it is given more attention than to the lyrics, thoughts or feelings, like the happier country folk-rock flavours. Despite a bit of lyrical criticism involved and inspired by what the times provided (like on “Outside looking in”, written deliberately inside a prison, with thoughts against religious preachers who are “outside things” but still dare to have opinions on things with which they never shared participations, but it is also about a guy not wanting to go to the army and then having sent to jail for it), the feeling remains an involvement of a sort of let-it-go happiness, singing over each thought with more up tempo directly consuming live energy, something which for the directly vivid approach still remains appealing. Different are folk-rock songs like “Never in my life” showing strong vocally expressive abilities, followed by a more baroque arranged other beautiful song, “Order to things”. But when the last track concludes with a bluesier rock version/cover of a Tim Hardin track, not much of any the expressed thoughts stay with you, so that the album demands repeated listens to dig all the details, which were covered up a bit like with sand, by all the more up tempo energies involved.
This still is a realy enjoyable album, which despite any lightness of moments, for me stands the time well.
