The Roches

Just before The Roches was released, the singing and songwriting toasts of Greenwich
Village played a small university in a Massachusetts manufacturing town. "Girls," the frats
behind me sneered when they saw three slightly weird sisters carrying two acoustic
guitars. "They can't even sing," the boys howled next as the trio skidded into the giddy,
tinny harmonies of "We," their habitual opener (it begins The Roches as well): "... More >

Robert Fripp's austere production of this witty, pretty music not only abjures alien instrumentation but also plays up the quirks of the Roches' less-than-commanding voices and acoustic guitars. Thus it underscores their vulnerability and occasional desperation and counteracts their flirtations with the coy and the fey. The result is not a perfect record, but rather one whose imperfections are lovingly mitigated. Replete with memorable melodies, heartbreaking harmonies, wise words, and lotsa laffs. (Grade: A)