Patty Larkin

Patty Larkin. Who does she sound like? I want to compare her to someone. Who is it? A darker-sounding Joni Mitchell here. An echo of Ricky Lee Jones there. She has a cynical sneer in her voice that wraps around and serves her thoughtful lyrics well. The CD carries that nice acoustic, cold, rainy Sunday-morning sound. Van Morrison fans know what I mean.

“All that Innocence," the opening cut, is a soft, repetitious song of resignation about waiting for spring to turn into summer. "The Cranes" is haunting and Mitchell-like in arrangement, with hints of "Urge for Going." "Home," the song written after Sept. 11, is moody, slow and maudlin. What else would it be? But it doesn’t quite work. "St. Augustine" is Dylanesque, with its vague, provocative words that keep coming back to "On the Streets of St. Augustine." Nice stuff and for my money the best offering here. Altogether a good collection and recommended.