Serafima & The Shakedowns Break Dirt with a Pair of Debut Singles
I first saw Serafima Healy play at the now-defunct Hotel Albatross, and then again when she played at my house. Both times, I was struck most by her capacity for comedy. Making people laugh is secretly one of the toughest things to do as a musician, but she had the crowd chortling consistently.
Her fascination with American roots music - the stuff that’s old enough to be antique now - comes through in her music, along with a more-than-passing resemblance to The Moldy Peaches, both sonically and lyrically. She, and her band The Shakedowns, finally break dirt with two debut singles on American Standard Time Records, and they both showcase the group’s twist on a very old style of music.
The first, “Modern Girl Blues,” disarms with an uptempo number about being forced to work within the world’s terms. The music bounces and bounds, but Healy’s words carry a sardonicness that pleasingly darkens the tone. It’s hard to make them out sometimes, both for enunciative and for mixing reasons, but listen closely and you’ll find she has a way of making a meal out a few simple images. Her subject cries on the bus and does her makeup, buckling under the pressure, all the while daring you to scrutinize. “It’s so easy, so easy to be me,” Healy repeats with a wry grin.
The second, “Rock Show,” is something I personally needed to hear. I tend to spend the colder months inside where paradoxically I end up much colder in the process. Maybe you’re the same way. Healy banks on that assumption. “Get me to the rock show,” she opens, “even if I say I don’t wanna go.” It’s a much simpler song lyrically than “Modern Girl Blues,” but its pair of choruses plaintively speak to a faith in the communal power of music, and in its ability to massage any sadness the young winter might bring on. Yet she hits you again with a twist of reality when the song ends on retreat rather than adventure: another subtle marker of Healy’s understanding about properly-constructed lyrics.
The band behind her buttresses her words via straight, front-facing, classic Americana with a bluegrass tint. These are two very different tracks; “Modern Girl Blues’” jaunt is led by Sam Burrows’ locked snare and Healy’s rhythm guitar while Joe McPhee’s bass lands on the kick. “Rock Show’s” frigid tempo, meanwhile, highlights Aaron Khawaja’s languorous barroom piano and Nikolai Shveitser’s weeping, winding pedal steel.
They’re undoubtedly playing at a spot near you; get yourself to the rock show.