Tonight And The Rest Of My Life - Nina Gordon

.../> 2. 2003
3. Tonight And The Rest Of My Life
4. Bad Way
5. Horses In The City
6. Hold Onto Me
7. New Year's Eve
8. Fade To Black
9. Number One Camera
10. Got Me Down
11. Too Slow To Ride
12. Hate Your Way
13. The End Of The World

"He likes to try on all my clothes but not my underwear...." - one of the more unusual lyrics I've heard recently, and ...
...the theme could be in keeping with Veruca Salt, the delivery certainly isn't, instead reminiscent of Sheryl Crow in her "C'mon, C'mon" persona - but more so of Susanna Hoffs from the Bangles (it could almost be her in places!) - this song is extremely catchy and Nina's vocals shine. The intro promises power-rock but is fleeting, whilst her voice is strong yet never fails to keep track of the melody.

"2003" became ... more

Those of you who have read my other reviews on Ciao will by now have noticed a common theme - mostly unknown female singer-songwriters from across a fairly healthy spectrum (pop, alt-country, alt-folk and Americana). Once in a while though, I take a chance on someone who's already had a reasonably successful career in a group then takes the plunge to make a go of it on their own. Purchasing Nina Gordon's debut solo CD "Tonight And The Rest Of My Life" is one such chance I took recently and how it paid off....

Nina Gordon may be better known for being the more melodious half of 1990s initially folkies-turned-Bangles-inspired grunge-pop duo Veruca Salt, Louise Post providing the noise and power for the band. The mellow roots of this pairing were discarded after their first collaborations but it's clear that Nina Gordon never really lost the ability to come up with songs that could be performed without the tense, raw-edged grunge-rock sound that Veruca Salt embraced so vigorously in albums such as "American Thighs" and "Eight Arms To Hold You". In fact, listening to parts of "Tonight And The Rest Of My Life", you could almost be forgiven for wondering how this softly-singing performer was part of such a band.

There's some debate as to why Gordon and Post had a parting of the ways - Nina Gordon left the band in 1998 and started creating some solo demo material. "Tonight And The Rest Of My Life" was actually completed in 1999 but left label-less after a record industry merger, it was another year before she was picked up by Warner Brothers. Despite being a commercial failure in terms of immediate impact, this album managed to sell something like 375,000 copies and at least one track made it into a couple of movie soundtracks.

A track listing for "Tonight And The Rest Of My Life" would no doubt be helpful at this stage.

1. Now I Can Die
2. 2003
3. Tonight And The Rest Of My Life
4. Bad Way
5. Horses In The City
6. Hold Onto Me
7. New Year's Eve
8. Fade To Black
9. Number One Camera
10. Got Me Down
11. Too Slow To Ride
12. Hate Your Way
13. The End Of The World

"He likes to try on all my clothes but not my underwear...." - one of the more unusual lyrics I've heard recently, and one I'm not likely to forget in a hurry! Whilst the theme could be in keeping with Veruca Salt, the delivery certainly isn't, instead reminiscent of Sheryl Crow in her "C'mon, C'mon" persona - but more so of Susanna Hoffs from the Bangles (it could almost be her in places!) - this song is extremely catchy and Nina's vocals shine. The intro promises power-rock but is fleeting, whilst her voice is strong yet never fails to keep track of the melody.

"2003" became something of a minor hit even without the benefit of much publicity, and it's not too difficult to understand why. I could almost envisage Sheryl Crow singing this on "The Globe Sessions", such are the simple-yet-successful hooks, stacked harmonies and care-free guitar breaks. Comparisons are one thing, but Nina Gordon makes this song her own with a powerful yet slightly restrained performance.

"Tonight And The Rest Of My Life" changes tack slightly with a more retrospective feel, her vocals becoming much clearer and sweeter - the minimal accompaniment in the verses aiding this transformation. It's one of those slow-burning power ballads that can occasionally be beyond the capabilities of some artists - not Nina. This song made it into the 'Chocolat' soundtrack and also apparently did fairly well as a radio favourite in the States. Can't remember it making much impact this side of the Atlantic, though.

Her Veruca Salt background surfaces with something of a vengeance on the killer track "Bad Way", though - a hugely enjoyable counterpoint to the previous trio of tracks and just what was needed to give a bit of impetus to the album. Throbbing guitars and heavy drums aside, though, Nina's not straying too far from the melody even with this piece. Whilst it's clear she's comfortable letting rip with the vocals at times, it still seems orderly, carefully restrained and measured. A really good piece, though - and something to play in the car on the way home from the office to let the day's frustrations subside....

"Horses In The City" returns to the mellow side of Nina's output, this song resembling one of those really radio-friendly AAA tunes that you hear on stations all over the States. Whilst that might be viewed by some as a criticism, it's not meant as one - the verses have an extremely sweet (but never saccharin) quality to them, reminding me more of a happier Aimee Mann - if the latter was ever to release a happy-sounding song, that is!

"Hold Onto Me" echoes "Tonight And The Rest Of My Life" in many respects and re-uses many of the same successful elements, her vocals alternately sounding like Crow and Hoffs at various points throughout the song. However, the comparisons are more slanted towards Aimee Mann again in terms of substance, especially the rising choruses and Mellitron accompaniment. This is probably my favourite track from the album, though it's really difficult to choose.

There's another couple of Salt-y tracks in "New Year's Eve" and "Number One Camera" but most of the remaining songs tread a fine line between her mellow output and the Aimee Mann-esque tunes.

I'm really glad I managed to obtain a copy of this album recently - for about a year I've been prevaricating but managed to get a really cheap one (around £3.50 including postage) via Amazon.com Marketplace, where I seem to be purchasing most of my CDs from recently. (As long as you keep the order under $18, there's no Customs charge but you have to wait around ten days for shipping from the various sellers.) In fact, I'm so happy with "Tonight And The Rest Of My Life" that I'm really kicking myself for not buying it much earlier. If you're wanting a happy, bouncy, uplifting yet undemanding listen, you could do much, much worse than get a copy of this.

Full lyrics are included on the inlay as well as a few rather flattering photos.

To sum up, I nearly like this as much as Gemma Hayes' debut CD "Night On My Side" - so that's praise indeed.... but I usually only reserve the 'flawless' rating for the latter, not that's there are really any weak links here.

If you liked this review, I've done a fair few others on other reasonably unknown or less-marketed artists. You may even spot a recurring theme, not that it's hard! Thanks for reading this one.... 

...less