Over the Rhine | Everybody Has A Story... | Press Archive index

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Spazz, Reseda CA
Winter 1994

by Anna Costello

OVER THE RHINE
EVE
IRS RECORDS

Sw-e-e-e-t. This release is the sort of gem that you want to record on a blank tape and push on your friends. From the opening sultry and assertive line, "I can't please you so I have to please myself," (sic) vocalist-guitarist Karin Bergquist commands this Cincinnati-based quartet with a no holds barred vengeance. Reminiscent of Edie Brickell and Natalie Merchant, Bergquist sways and titillates between a refined cabaret voice and a roadhouse vamp. Musically, Over the Rhine's thick, clean-sounding blues and alt-rock melodies enhance exceptional songs. Very seductive.