Palmtapes

Best Exes – ‘Cactus’ C26 $5
Michigan’s Best Exes are a four-piece from Detroit, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. Cactus, their debut album, is comprised of simple, tunefully tender, songs. Linda Jordan and Jim Cherewick share most of the vocals, with Cherewick embracing a ‘just rolled out of bed’ vocal style to cool effect. Jordan’s vocals are often treated in 60s-esque reverb and overall, Cactus’s straightforward production recalls the era. In live performance, tube gain and the groove of Best Exes’s rhythm section (Erin Davis and Maria Nuccilli) give some rock edge, but “Cactus” favors a subtle approach. It’s a striking debut that shows Best Exes guitar-strum-songcraft, and youthful, sometimes midwestern, lyrical themes. The Detroit Free Press writes that, “spending time with Cactus could help redefine your perception, not of what love is, but of what a love song can be.”

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