Dark End of the Street - EP

iTunes Review

Picking up where 2008's Jukebox left off, the Dark End Of the Street EP assembles six more cover songs, mostly culled from the same sessions — consider it a hearty helping of seconds for those with insatiable appetites from the first time around. Chan Marshall's reworking of the melodies from Dan Penn's "Dark End of the Street" only veers slightly from the original, and dressing up the song with vintage guitars and old tube-burning amplifiers helps keep it sounding warm and ageless. She also leaves the original melody of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" intact, redesigning the tempos and attack of the song; where the original was a fist-pumping upstart's anthem, this one bobs on heavy-lidded head nod tempos with soulful harmonies in the chorus that come off like Dusty Springfield collaborating with Brightblack Morning Light. Taking on Otis Redding and Jerry Butler's "I've Been Loving You Too Long" may seem a bit over ambitious, but the slow grinding Hammond B-3 and vintage Memphis-toned guitars help keep it above admirable. A spare piano and organ are the only accompaniment to an outstanding reconstruction of Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes."