Oh Susanna - A Girl in Teen City

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 27 / 5 / 2017

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Review

Since the mid 1990s and over the course of half a dozen albums Canadian singer/songwriter Suzie Ungerleider (aka Oh Susanna) left little doubt that she belongs to that rare group of songwriters who can wrap a whole story up in the space of a three-minute song. Being blessed with a distinctive, inviting voice helped make Suzie’s storytelling even more appealing. The dozen songs on ‘A Girl in Teen City’ are some of the most personal that Suzie has released so far. The album is about her coming-of-age summer, and it details the frustrations and alienation of growing up in not just her hometown but yours too. It also brings back memories of all the good times spent there, even if they didn’t feel so great at the time. In Suzie’s case the town was Vancouver but it matters not; Suzie’s lyrics, full of the imagery we have come to expect from her songwriting, can be transported to almost any town. And don’t think that gender is going to limit the appeal of these songs; a lot of the emotions and situations that Suzie covers in these songs are universal. Strangely by looking back Suzie has moved her music forwards. Lyrically it certainly shows a side to Suzie’s musical education that many of her fans were possibly unaware of. There are lines scattered throughout these songs that will not only come as a surprise to those who have heard her earlier albums but that will also raise a knowing smile. For the most part a slightly melancholy mood hangs over the album. Songs such as ‘Waiting for the Blossoms’ boast atmospheric soundscapes that have not been explored so fully on her previous albums, while Suzie’s gripping vocals give life to her fascinating tales the sounds in the background compliment the images in the listener's mind perfectly. But while those soundscapes or the pretty, catchy melodies that adorn her lyrics are addictive it’s Suzie’s words that really grip you. Given that Suzie has always been loosely grouped into the folk/country genre many will have (mistakenly it would now appear) assumed that that type of music majorly influenced the young Ungerleider. Lines such as “You got tickets for the weekend to see D.O.A.” and “Gabba gabba hey hey hey, just like actors in a play” give notice that Suzie’s musical education might not have been as reserved as we thought. On the closing song, ‘My Old Vancouver’ a mainly acoustic, stripped -back piece that still manages to create such a vivid picture, we find a Vaselined flat-topped Suzie stepping out in her ripped skinny black jeans to a place where “the Clash City Rockers reigned for a day” walking past the ballroom where X, Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys played before realizing that her hometown “wasn’t so grey, so nice to visit, so maybe I’ll stay.” Opening the album with ‘Flashlights’, Suzie details the first time she sneaked out the house to take a moonlight dip, the time she “fell in love with the night” and in closing the set with ‘My Old Vancouver’ Suzie takes us on a complete journey through her teenage years from falling for the wrong guy, to knowing that another boyfriend's dreams of making it as a lead singer are just that as “he don’t have the soul like me.” Taking in fumbles on the darkroom floor at school and the fear that her boyfriend is prettier than her, she covers the fears that all teenagers have to endure. It’s also something of a lesson; no matter your gender and how exclusive those fears feel to you it would seem that we all go through the same emotions. Producer Jim Bryson has done a marvellous job of bringing Suzie’s teenage stories to life; her vocals are, as they should be, upfront and crystal clear but the subtle nuances that Bryson has coloured these songs with go some way to pulling the listener into each story. He’s also brought out a rockier side to Suzie that some who have tasted her earlier work may not have experienced before; the short ‘Getting Ready’ is hardly taken at a Ramones pace but it perfectly captures the sprit of such a band “got my ripped jeans on, painted on”; we all know the thrill of getting ready for a night out to see your favourite band and Suzie captures that feeling so well. Way back in what now seems like a different world a young singer who went under the performing name of Oh Susanna covered Otis Redding’s ‘I’ve Got Dreams to Remember’ and sent chills down this writer's spine,. Despite some excellent albums since, if I had to choose just one Suzie Ungerleider performance it would have been that interpretation. ‘A Girl in Teen City’, however, changes that. This album is Suzie’s finest and most accomplished musical statement to date. It’s an absolute gem of an album.

Track Listing:-

1 Flash Lights
2 Wolf Boy
3 Lucky Star
4 My Boyfriend
5 The Darkroom at School
6 Getting Ready
7 Tickets on the Weekend
8 Walked All the Way Home
9 Waiting for the Blossoms
10 Thunderbird
11 Puget Sound
12 My Old Vancouver

Band Links:-

https://en-gb.facebook.com/ohsusannamu
https://www.ohsusanna.com/
https://twitter.com/OhSusannaMusic
https://www.instagram.com/ohsusannamus
https://www.youtube.com/user/OhSusanna

Have a Listen:-