Best Albums of 2010 Series: “In Black Robes,” Sarah June
25th December 2010

Sarah June sings like a dead girl’s ghost. She’s got the kind of voice that sounds like the wind when it howls through door locks and window panes, the high-pitched and breathy wail of a drowned child’s spirit calling your name from the underworld. It’s the kind of voice you run from in your nightmares—not so much haunted as it is chilling—and the moment it raises a hair on your neck or a goose bump on your arm is precisely the moment June’s songs live in. To hear her sing for the first time is to never forget her, and the songs on In Black Robes, her sophomore LP released this past March on Silber Records, are no easier to get out of your mind than the name of the one who first broke your heart.
“This is the end, my friends / we’re all skeletons / with crossbones in our eyes / and wing-tipped shoes shined,” she sings. “I rattle like a poison snake / but that’s just the chance you take / when you get too close.” The song is called “Crossbones in Your Eyes,” one of the finest tracks to come out all year, and the second track on a record that plays like a goth-folk party in the graveyard of your mind. That’s where you’ll find Sarah June, rattling the bones of your fears and inviting you to delight in the mortality you’ve been sentenced to since the day you were born.
She’s cruising in her jet-black ‘68 Caddy with blown speakers one minute and getting summoned to judgment day by a hooded man who points at her with his bony finger the next. “And now I’m just a lonely skeleton / in my coffin black / singin’ love songs to the grim reaper / I hope he brings me back,” she sings on “Judgment Day,” one of the record’s many standouts. Elsewhere she sings of peeling the label off of the bottle of regret amid a jazzy atmosphere of shuffling percussion and acoustic guitar that sounds like something off of Van Morrison’s Moondance, of the girl she studies from across the street as she ties her shoes–the one she loves “more than the girl on the second floor” or “the boy with the metal heart.” But mostly these songs gladly wander where your parents told you never to go, the places where the night turns trees to “skeletons with filmy thin tired skin” and the people you cross paths with may be the last ones to see you alive.

In Black Robes is the work of an authentic American voice whose originality cannot be overstated. No one is making music like this–nobody. And while the songs may indulge an attraction to the mabacbre, they only do so with one eye fixed firmly on the influences that June weaves into her music like patches in some quirky quilt. She’s ballsy enough to drop an unmasked nod to Blue Oyster Cult (”don’t fear the reaper ‘cuz he’ll bring ya’ home”) just as she channels early ’60s girl-group pop with a shout out to The Crystals on “Mowtown,” her love letter to the Detroit where she cut her teeth playing gigs after dropping out of school as a teen (”and all the girls in the background sang / ‘da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron”). She turns in a Jaynetts cover with “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” and reaches all the way back to turn-of-the-20th-century gospel on “Bluesy Melody”:
Well this is what they call life, baby
That bluesy melody that swings me
that sweet chariot that brings me home
June’s guitar playing boasts the aplomb of Dave Van Ronk, and the songs on In Black Robes are just as unadorned as the music that high priest of folk made famous in Dylan’s prime (It was Van Ronk who taught Dylan to play “House of the Rising Sun,” later immortalized by The Animals). June summons more power from the snap of someone’s fingers on “The Reaper” or the shy intrusion of percussion on “Crossbones in Your Eyes” than a more ornate production ever could have. The songs almost never linger beyond the four-minute mark, and the record feels like it breezes by in the time it takes to say your prayers. And how fitting that is, because after June takes you on her trip to meet the ghosts that haunt the anguished landscapes where she finds her songs, you just might want to say a prayer or two.
Note: Silber Records offers a download of the album for just five bucks here.
Silber Media

~Gianmarc Manzione
In Black Robes Review

Sarah June “We Lurk Late”

Hannah Fury “The Vampire Waltz”

Imogen Heap “Rake It In”

Kate Bush “Under Ice”

PJ Harvey “Legs”

A Perfect Circle “Passive” (from the movie Constantine)

Kate Bush “Houdini”

Tool “Sober”

The Birthday Massacre “In The Dark”

The Cure “Lullaby”

Black Sabbath “Black Sabbath”

Hannah Fury “Don’t Be Scared”

Alice Cooper “Steven”

You can find the Live Set Here…

Sarah June Live at the Stork Club San Francisco

Live from the Stork Club

Going to be a great show so if you are in the SF area tonight go check it out!!

The Red Vic

1665 Haight St
SF CA 94117

Crossbones In Your Eyes

this is the end my friends
we’re all skeletons
with crossbones in our eyes
and wing-tipped shoes spit shined
we’re gonna

shake shake rattle our bones
shake take ‘em down
shake shake rattle our bones
shake take ‘em down
shake shake rattle our bones
shake take ‘em down
go and take ‘em down
go and take ‘em down now

now I’m drivin’ in my all black ’68 Cadillac
with my speakers blown
I rattle like a poison snake
but that’s just the chance you take
when you get too close
I want you to

shake shake rattle your bones
shake take ‘em down
shake shake rattle your bones
shake take ‘em down
shake shake rattle your bones
shake take ‘em down
go and take ‘em down
go and take ‘em down now

this is the end my friends
we’re all skeletons
with crossbones in our eyes
and wing-tipped shoes spit shine
we’re gonna

shake shake rattle our bones
shake take ‘em down
shake shake rattle our bones
shake take ‘em down
shake shake rattle our bones
shake take ‘em down
go and take ‘em down
go and take ‘em down now

Cowboy

button up your coat, winter wind’s pretty cold this evening
she said “yeah i’ve been out today and it’s not cold it’s freezing.
saw my whole conversation on the air, didn’t really want to share
but they made me…
tried to bend my words like i bend a string
but hard as i tried i couldn’t bend anything

and i woke up to a photo-negative landscape
and i reached over hoping to find your familiar shape
and i took up smoking ‘cuz i wanna be a cowboy
i’m so tough i’m gonna self-destruct it’s poetry

i triple-tied my steeltoe boots ‘cuz i’m leaving
she says “what can i do?” i say “give me a story worth believing”
you know you bend your words like you bend a string
but hard as you try you can’t bend anything

and i woke up to a photo-negative landscape
and i reached over hoping to find your familiar shape
and i took up smoking ‘cuz i wanna be a cowboy
i’m so tough i’m gonna self-destruct it’s poetry

and this is all i want, this is all i need
the late afternoon stripes painting stripes on the bed sheets
and i’m wearing nothing but a bath-towel-turban
and i’m closing my eyes to hear the highway humming
and you know i like the way you wear those ripped-up jeans
you know, i like that you know what i mean when i say
“you are so utterly human”
but love is just timing and you were a little too late
and i’m still trying to find that river
so i can skate away

Judgement Day

a hooded man with a bony hand

he pointed to me one day

before i knew there was no turning back

i was on my way to judgement day

and now i’m just a lonely skeleton

in my coffin black

singin’ love songs to the grim reaper

i hope he brings me back

oh yeah

‘cuz i ain’t all dead

no not in my head

and not in my soul

no i ain’t all dead

no not in my head

i ain’t gonna pay that toll

a hooded man with a bony hand

he pointed to me one day

before i knew there was no turning back

i was on my way to judgement day

and now i’m just a lonely skeleton

in my coffin black

singin’ love songs to the grim reaper

i hope he brings me back

oh yeah

‘cuz i ain’t all dead

no not in my head

and not in my soul

no i ain’t all dead

no not in my head

i ain’t gonna pay that toll

oh no

oh no

From My Window High

magnified

from my window high

i study you

while you tie your shoes

you don’t see me

across the street

a convex lens

lets me in

and i love you more

than the girl on the second floor

i know she talks so sweet

but look how she shuffles her feet

she don’t love you

draw a card

the queen of hearts

is this a sign

that you are entwined with me?

but i love you more

than the boy with the metal heart

i know he shines his shoes

but he can’t sing the blues

he don’t love you

magnified

from my window high

i study you

while you tie your shoes

Brand of Bitterness

I peel the label off my bottle of regret
don’t want nobody to know my brand of bitterness
a black candle burns, it bears your name
hallelujah – you’re consumed by flames

and I hope each time you hear me sing
it reminds you what the reaper brings

‘cuz stolen jewels they shine so nice
reflecting all that tainted light
and I might be in love with a crooked thief
but he ain’t sharp enough to swindle me
oh no no

I peel the label off my bottle of regret
don’t want nobody to know my brand of bitterness
a black candle burns, it bears your name
hallelujah – you’re consumed by flames

and I hope each time you hear me sing
it reminds you what the reaper brings

‘cuz stolen jewels they shine so nice
reflecting all that tainted light
and I might be in love with a crooked thief
but he ain’t sharp enough to swindle me
no no

The Reaper

digging a grave for these lonesome bones
don’t fear the reaper cuz he’ll bring ya home
in black robes
too bad you had to go down like that
I saw the reaper black on your back
he tipped his hat as if to say
I’m glad to see you’re goin’ my way my way my way

you should have known the waves were cruel
but you just smiled and played a fool
but you know the way down
yeah you know the way down
but you know the way down boy
yeah you know the way down

digging a grave for these lonesome bones
don’t fear the reaper cuz he’ll bring ya home
in black robes
too bad you had to go down like that
I saw the reaper black on your back
he tipped his hat as if to say
I’m glad to see you’re goin’ my way my way my way

you should have known the waves were cruel
but you just smiled and played a fool
but you know the way down
yeah you know the way down
you should have know the waves
but you know the way down
yeah you know the way down
yeah you know the way down boy
yeah you know the way

Bluesy Melody

well are you looking for a god up in the sky
blue between the clouds
oh when ya coming down to me?

oh I’m so earthy
look at my shadow on the ground
gravity is keeping me down
gravity is keeping me down
gravity is keeping me down

well this is what they call life, baby
that bluesy melody that swings me
that sweet chariot that brings me home

the trees by the highway are skeletons
with filmy thin tired skin
and the pavement is rolled out like a picnic blanket
every day is a steel-ant banquet
and now some guy’s name is even on the river beds
i gotta shell out 2 bucks just to get my feet wet
and I’ll stand at the sandbar
thinking it’s not real far ’til they
swing low sweet chariot bring me home

well this is what they call life, baby
that bluesy melody that swings me
that sweet chariot that brings me home
well this is what they call life, baby
that bluesy melody that swings me
that sweet chariot that brings me home
that sweet chariot that brings me home

Paper Lantern

when i grow old will i braid my hair
or will it be curls in white
will my voice shake like a paper lantern in the wind,
or will i just sigh

will i sit in an ivy garden
or in a room up high
will i still wear my mother’s locket
with a picture of my father inside

she dreamed in black and white
she dreamed in black and white

she dreamed in black and white
she dreamed in black and white

when i grow old will i sleep with the light on
or will darkness finally be kind
or will i sleep with the TV on, bathed in it’s flickering light

will i sit in an ivy garden
or in a room up high
will i still wear my mother’s locket
with a picture of my father inside

will i dream in black and white?
will i dream in black and white?
will i dream in black and white?
will i dream in black and white?
will i dream in black and white?

when i grow old will i braid my hair
or will it be curls in white
will my voice shake like a paper lantern in the wind,
or will i just sigh

In Your Chevrolet

skull and bones

i’m alone

phone never rings

dial tone’s lonely moan

is comforting

you got a diamond

i got a spade

you’re gonna sparkle

i’m gonna dig a grave

and then pray

on my knees….

in your chevrolet

we drank tanqueray

’til the road and sky

had no horizon line

and you had a diamond

i had a spade

you’re gonna sparkle

i’m gonna dig a grave

and then pray

on my knees….

(oh on my knees)

Motown

dear detroit,
you gonna be alright
i know you in the shadow of
all them things that loom above
and they may say you’re falling down
but don’t forget you’re still Motown

and i know you can break these chains
yeah i know you can break these chains
yeah i know you can break these break these chains

and east coast they know what i mean
tattooed tears for R.I.P.
and i carry a blade with a steel grin
watch out baby i ain’t afraid of sin

and all them girls in the background sung
“do run run run da do run run, do run run run da doo run run, do run run run da do run run…”

and i know you can break these chains
yeah i know you can break these chains
yeah i know you can break these break these chains
you can break these break these chains baby
you can break these break these chains

dear detroit,
you gonna be alright
i know you in the shadow of
all them things that loom above
and they may say you’re falling down
but don’t forget you’re still Motown

and i know you can break these chains
yeah i know you can break these chains
yeah i know you can break these break these chains
you can break these break these chains baby
you can break these break these chains

and all them girls in the background sung
“do run run run da do run run, do run run run da doo run run, do run run run da do run run…”

dear detroit,
you gonna be alright

‘Till You Hit the Pavement

the highway is drawing me in

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

wanna catch a train, go down south

feel the summer wind in my mouth

the highway is drawing me in

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

have we found perfection?

or just distractions?

i am a fraction of an inch from caving in.

and those wheeling seasons

they grind down to the bone and then they

spit you out and spin you ’round and keep you up all night

this is what i look like, i’ve been screaming in my sleep for six days

welcome to mass-confusion, all my fine-lines have been frayed

have we found perfection?

or just distractions?

i am a fraction of an inch from caving in.

i used to sum up life with one statement:

you don’t know you’re falling ’til you hit the pavement

my life cracked open wide, wide, why?

am i caught between ground and sky

i am caught between ground and sky

we are all caught between ground and sky.

have we found perfection?

or just distractions?

i am a fraction of an inch from caving in.

the highway is drawing me in

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

time’s running out, the gravel’s thin

Still Missing Fencepost… and Sally Goes Round the Roses (cover)