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Cooper, Amy What I love most about Amy Cooper is her artful yet straight-on rock approach to wonderful songwriting. Listening to Mirrors is like finding a Sheryl Crow & Kim Gordon collaboration. On this 7-song EP, the delicate balance of bright yet dissonant vocals and playful yet grungy backdrop of art-rock ends up in a woozy mix of pop perfection. While never straying too far from the formula that shaped her Water/Fire record, Mirrors sounds a tad more lighthearted and free. This time, Cooper forfeits the band atmosphere and recuited the sole help of California hipster Frank Lenz (Lassie Foundation, SF59, etc.) who adds drums and bass, along with joint production credits. Yet despite the wonderous talents of Lenz, these songs feel 100% Cooper, and without a doubt, Cooper is one of the greatest unspoken musicians of our time. "You Can't Have It All" could have been written for Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sessions, being both experimental in arrangement and immediately hummable. Overall, Cooper's nack for garage-like compositions turned art-pop makes her freakishly charming. "Come Alive" and "Back Together" are raw, emotional, and perhaps most importantly, flat-out cool. Mirrors is highly recommended for fans of Kissing Cousins, Dakota Motor Co(!), Sheryl Crow, and Sonic Youth (light!). Amy Cooper is an awckward kind of lovable, but very loveable none-the-less.
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