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Reviews

Jaye Foucher — Infectious Licks
(Fuism 67676, 1997, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 1998-02-01

Infectious Licks Cover art

Indeed, infectious they are. Foucher is a guitarist from New England operating in the more-or-less instrumental rock idiom of folks like Eric Johnson or Joe Satriani, with the occasional vocal track thrown in, backed by a capable bassist and drummer. She also doubles on keyboards and is a decent songwriter as well, which by itself makes her a notch or two better than Satriani. One might be concerned halfway through the opener, "Killer Clowns," that this might end up being a headbanger metalfest, but worry thou not, for herein a wide variety of territory is covered — all tastily written and played, with jazz, blues, and classical elements surfacing regularly through the rock base, with skillful and riveting solos on every tune. Playing all of the guitar tracks herself (acoustic and electric, sometimes two or three), the compositions tend to utilize shifting time sigs and a wide dynamic envelope. Songs like "Truth," "Epic," and "The Real Thing" are particularly noteworthy, the latter almost reminding me of something Harvey Mandel or Chet Atkins might do in a three-piece format. More keyboards would have been nice, as well as a bit more animation at the drum kit on some of the heavier rock tracks, but these are very minor gripes (I mean... I have to complain about something, don't I?). In all, an excellent album I can recommend highly to all.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 14, 1997 releases

Related artist(s): Jaye Foucher

 

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