'Harper's Arrow'
What The Critics Say
Although Sarah Dougher got her start in scrappy little indie punk bands like the Crabs during the K Records/cuddlecore heyday, she also has a doctorate in comparative literature and a day job in the Women's Studies department of Portland State University. It's that side of Dougher that most heavily influences Harper's Arrow, an album based on a multimedia show she premiered and toured with in 2003. The 16 songs on this album are an impressionistic song cycle conflating imagery from Homer's Odyssey and media coverage of the Iraq War, performed with a full band but with sparse arrangements that put the listener's focus squarely on Dougher's voice and lyrics. Just as that description suggests, Harper's Arrow is not exactly the most lighthearted and whimsical album ever made: this is by some measure the most serious and politically pointed music Dougher has yet written. But it's not sanctimoniously "good for you" in the crunchy granola sense, either: Dougher's literary background and her roots in the non-preachy show-don't-tell world of indie pop keep even songs as potentially hectoring as "It's a God Damned Lie" from being merely preachy, and the folk-punk vibe of the album meshes well with her artless but appealing vocals. Quiet, poetic and thoughtful, Harper's Arrow is worlds removed from Sarah Dougher's earliest work, but it remains connected to the personal-is-political ethos of her roots. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The Bluff is signature Sarah Dougher, with deeply bare, honest, and piercing ruminations on the struggle to balance intellect and emotion and finding hope and healing amid love's losses. Backed by a gritty, almost '60s psychedelic rock soundtrack, listeners will be hard-pressed to not feel the album rumbling their insides. Dougher's second full-length album -- The Walls Ablaze was her first -- boils over and brews steadily, much like the human experience. Highlights include "Must Believe," a delicious throwback to '60s rock (think Jefferson Airplane), the toasty folk-inspired "My Kingdom," and Dougher's worthy remake of the 1962 blues piano song "It's Raining." Probably the most affecting cut on The Bluff, however, is its delicate and lulling title track. Open-ended in its meaning, the song will leave listeners in a state of reflection long after the last note has resonated. The Bluff is anything but. This album wraps around listeners like a warm and snug comforter, with enough scratchy patches to gently remind listeners of life's harsher realities. ~ Liana Jonas, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
As a multi-talented singer/songwriter, the highly intelligent Sarah Dougher has been into music for awhile; she grew up playing guitar and later she played rock organ in folk-rock bands such as Cadallaca, The Lookers, and the Crabs. Following up her 1998 solo debut Day One, Dougher has returned with a solid, self-exploring sophomore release called The Walls Ablaze. The dozen-track mold is a heavy illustration of emotional poetic clamor, songs ranging from topics of loss to frustrations of the unknown. Dougher's melodic vocals can be linked to Bettie Serveert's Carol van Dijk, and the Spinanes' Rebecca Gates, and instrumentation echoes like early Lene Lovich cuts. Guitarist, and Dougher's longtime friend, Jon Reuter has joined musical forces, but expands his musical talent on keyboards and bass. Songs like "No-Handed" and "The Ground Below" sweetly hark at self-determination, but the spooling grooves on "What She'd Trade" is Dougher's finest moment. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The wry, thoughtful songs on Sarah Dougher's solo debut address friends and lovers in various degrees of geographical and emotional dislocation. Her guitar- and piano-based sound and unadorned alto are reminiscent of early Liz Phair, but Dougher is a more explicitly political songwriter. So where "Moving" takes a lover to task for refusing to build a life in one place, and "40 Hours" celebrates its narrator's own pleasure in running away, "Everywhere West" debunks the romantic mythology of female pioneers in the old West. Occasionally Dougher's politics outshine her craft: "The Day Bella Abzug Died" is a rousing feminist campfire song, but seems thin and didactic compared to her subtler work. In addition to its eleven originals, Day One features a languid cover of the Eagles' "Take It to the Limit" which blends surprisingly well with Dougher's own songs. ~ Kristi Coulter, All Music Guide
