CMJ New Music Report Issue 765: Randy Harward (Jun 03, 2002)

Cordelia's Dad may well be the first band suitable for both the alternative rock crowd and the congregation of a snake-handling church. Indeed, the group's rocking takes on traditional and sometimes creepy folk tunes bridge a vast culture gap, with delightful effect. The rock, however, has steadily slithered to the forefront on each of the band's four prior studio albums and on What It Is, the trio (Tim Eriksen, Peter Irvine and Cath Doss, also known as the indie-rock threesome, Io) again dials it up a notch (Praise Jesus! Pass the diamondback!). Sonically, some of the folksy aesthetic is lost, but the stark, vivid lyrical imagery remains (On "Camille's Not Afraid Of The Barn," a barn with a piss-and-cigarette stench is sung into holographic existence. The image of horror-stricken "Brother Judson" and his catatonia is depicted simply but effectively). That's not to say the rootsy sounds aren't entirely forsaken: "Dark and Rolling Eye" boasts the fiddle of erstwhile member Laura Fisk, and if you listen closely, you can hear acoustic instruments amidst the din. But why nitpick or analyze? What It Is is just plain good.