With its Vaudevillian sensibilities and swing, jazz/gospel/blues influences,
Make Me Yours
. . . has its sights firmly trained on the cosmopolitan worlds of burlesque and saloon. Singer and ukulele player Angie McLaughlin rounds up her posse of likeminded musicians to recreate that party atmosphere associated with their previous incarnation as The Sick and Indigent Song Club. With a raft of new songs, McLaughlin and her Illywhackers (referencing a 1985
Peter Carey
novel) run the gamut of love, from errant to devoted and all points in between. Musically inventive, with guitar, mandolin and double bass bantering wittily with fiddle, ukelele and cornet, the band capture the zest and vigour of the live performance, although McLaughlin’s vocals do struggle to bring something new to the mix. Foot-tapping, hip-swivelling music that’ll raise a smile.
