Rachel Taylor Brown Title: Susan Storm’s Ugly Sister And Other Saints and Superheroes Label: Cutthroat Pop Records Year: 2009 Rating: 3 / 5

Anybody care for some creepy piano, imaginative narrations and superhero banter? Well get ready to get your mind bent by Rachel Taylor Brown, whose latest release is a satyrical concept album about comic superheroes and saints. The piano-creep-pop stylings and musings of Rachel Taylor Brown are on full display on her latest release, Susan Storm’s Ugly Sister And Other Saints And Superheroes. The lengthy album title already gives warning that this album is not only different but eccentric in style, sound and interpretation. Intro track “Susan Storm’s Ugly Sister” actually throws everything into perspective from the get-go with its abstruse and transcendental sound of Rachel’s dysphoric vocals over a creepy piano and dissonant electronic thump. The funky swing of “Bruce Wayne’s Bastard Son” over Brown’s perceptions is an instant winner while ‘off’ sounding guitars add that extra ingredient to the approach. The abstract songwriting of Rachel Taylor Brown is one of a kind in its ability to stand tall without having a definite formula of the usual verse-chorus-versem standard that most artists and bands abide by. Behind all of this conceptual introspection, Ms. Brown actually has an admirable voice with a bewitching and alluring tone. The idea behind this concept album is far beyond what most people actually write about nor dream of writing and being so out of the box, Susan Storm’s Ugly Sister And Other Saints And Superheroes might be dismissed by most but might also be loved by many. If you don’t get it after the first spin, you never will.

By: Gian Erguiza