The Erin Hobson Compact: Press

I indulged in a little bit of professional curiosity this weekend and checked out The Erin Hobson Compact at Hyde Park Brewing Company. That curiosity stemmed solely from having typed the band’s name with steady frequency over the last couple of years - The Erin Hobson Company is a hard-working crew, if the Weekend calendar is any evidence. And while I’m a big fan of watching my hard-working Saints kick some tail at Hyde Park Brewing Company on Sundays, I’d never been to the site for any of their evenings of live music. Therefore, I reasoned: two birds, one stone.

First, the band: The Erin Hobson Compact are fantastic. The eponymous lead singer has a clear, gorgeous voice and a delightful countenance, making her great to listen to and fun to watch. She’s slight in stature, but don’t let that fool you: This woman wails viciously on an electric guitar. Her nimble fingers fly purposefully - there’s nothing fragile about Hobson’s ability. Actually, that’s the most notable element about the group as a whole: They easily move from sweet romantic tunes to fierce rockabilly and back around to intense jamming. Bassist Steven W. Ross compliments Hobson’s versatility, and drummer Manuel Quintana had several opportunities to demonstrate some heart-pumping drumming. The balance of genre and musical emphasis made the evening feel more like a proper concert and less like a soundtrack to boozing.

What’s important to note here is that The Erin Hobson Compact isn’t a cover band - these folks write beautiful original songs, and they’ve just released a brand new CD titled, “Talk Radio.” (You’ll see a full review in Weekend next week.) That’s why Hyde Park Brewing Company was a good spot to hear them - I had a comfortable seat at the bar where I could see and hear them clearly. It seemed that most of the patrons were there specifically for the concert - if there were interlopers, they were quiet and equally as taken in by the sounds as everyone else. The food and drink at the Brewing Company are both very good - I nibbled on a cheese quesadilla and sipped the Winkle Lager, one of several home brews available. (They’ve still got Oktoberfest in their Barrel 9 - get it while it lasts.) The only aggravation about the set up in the bar area is that people from the dining area kept walking in front of the band to get to the bathrooms, located in the far corner of the bar area. I’d be happy to put up with that inconvenience to see The Erin Hobson Compact in such an agreeable environment.

The Erin Hobson Compact - Talk Radio
2009, Choking Chicken Records

Erin Hobson has been bubbling under on the Indie Scene for a number of years. Critics love her, but widespread notoriety has yet to follow for the Rhinebeck, NY singer/songwriter. I suspect that’s all about to change with Talk Radio, Hobson’s latest project with her band, The Erin Hobson Compact. Top-rate musicianship, strong songwriting and a voice that’s unforgettable make this album a winner all around.

Hobson opens with the title track, displaying a clear, sweet voice and a gentle Pop-Americana style. Talk Radio hints at the tendency of people to differentiate themselves even when they aren't, whether through white lies, games or simple errors of omission. It's a strong tune; well and intelligently written with a great melody. Brick Wall is a fairly deep examination of the cooling of emotion over time in a relationship, with the object being both a buttress and a symbol of the loss. It's another great melody and another intelligently written tune that speaks on several levels to both the loving and lovelorn. Too Late is the story of someone fighting against their own human nature and their own base moments. It's a moderately upbeat tune with distinct sense of melancholy and a melody that melts into your ears.

Crash maintains the melancholic sensibility that pervades Talk Radio; taking on those moments when the world falls in around us. Hobson's voice is beautiful in anticipation of tragedy, and once again the melody is divine. Hobson kicks things up a notch with the honky-tonk Divide. Hobson is affable and sweet in a tune that decries ambivalence, but the real stars of this tune are her band, who inject a whole new level of life and energy into the song with some really hot instrumental work. Far From Home is a song of emotional survival sung in dulcet tones; it's introspective and self-possessed and thoroughly intriguing.

Passing Through is a plaintive tune full of self-doubt and misdirection. There's a sense that the narrator doesn't quite know where she's going but wants to get there as soon as she can, and an internal tension at this crux. It's a gorgeous melody and a fairly simple arrangement that's almost elegant in its plain state. Holding On is a musical realization, diary-style that the relationship she's in isn't what she might have hoped. The song expresses fear and excitement of a new road as well as the coming of tears at the loss. What starts out as a song of melancholy turns into one of joy. Hobson closes out with Leave The Light On, which might serve as a sort of epilogue to Holding On. It's a hedge that perhaps the newfound sense of freedom is a false one. Hobson harmonizes here, creating an enthralling sound against the backdrop her band creates.

The Erin Hobson Compact is a small town band with a sound that's anything but. Ensconced in melancholy, Americana and gentle Pop, it's as if Natalie Merchant, Lisa Loeb and Margo Timmins sat down and tried to create together. Hobson's band is first class, and her voice is a thing of beauty to behold. Talk Radio is brilliantly polished and ultimately listenable. Don't be surprised if Hobson's is a name you're very familiar with a few years from now. Get on the train now while there are still seats.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

I love this record. I’ve been playing it on a loop for days. A feel-good album if ever there was one, Talk Radio is a 10-track trump. Not that the themes are all that chipper, mind you. Hobson’s laid-bare lyrics put the world under a microscope with a wary eye. Even so, they are hoisted up by a hopeful, upbeat musical landscape that just won’t quit. Folk pop one minute, country twang the next, there are many musical bases covered here, and the production and players are stellar. Hobson has a gift for churning out catchy, melodic tunes that adhere to the walls of your skull like Stickum. Her voice, nearly vibrato-free, is smooth, sweet, and immensely pleasing.

I’m hearing bits of Lisa Loeb, the Indigo Girls, and the Sundays here, but there’s so much more. I simply cannot get “Crash” out of my head, a glorious guitar-strumming pop tune of hope and longing. “Divide” is pure flaming rockabilly fun, fun, fun. “Good Stuff” is jazz tinged, which is not surprising, since Hobson’s background is heavily saturated in jazz guitar. The ballad “Far From Home” is contemplative and loungey. I’ve only seen Hobson perform her coffeehouse fare solo, but I hear the Compact’s live set is amazing. Catch it on November 1 and 6 at the Rhinecliff Hotel and November 20 at Hyde Park Brewing Company. www.chokingchicken.net.

The Erin Hobson Compact— Talk Radio
(Choking Chicken Records)

Perhaps the ‘90s never really left after all. The calendars have long since been recycled into something else, the tickets stubs to the Lilith Fair used as bookmarks to keep the place in a hundred solemn stories nearly faded into memories alone. But for the Erin Hobson Project, the ‘90s are where it’s really at, an era when polite female rock music ostensibly had something to say, and the radio was there to listen.

Talk Radio puts singer-guitarist Hobson up front, and why not? The singer-guitarist is a beguiling performer, a self-styled “female John Mayer” (according to the group’s website), which is a fair description, and could provide direction whether you’re a fan of Jessica Simpson’s ex-boyfriend or not. Hobson’s co-conspirator, Steven W. Ross, plays bass and co-wrote the songs. It’s a collaboration that works for the pair, as Talk Radio is a pleasant, inoffensive release. The music is delivered with an impressive level of warmth, and Hobson’s voice is inviting throughout.

If it’s possible to say the album has a one-two punch, it comes early in the proceedings with “Too Late” and “Crash,” on which the music delivers on the solemnity and introspection of the lyrics. On the former, the story is told by someone who knows they’re messing up, but still can’t help themselves, while the other is a bleak tale of one who doesn’t seem sure whether to be torn apart by lost love.

Talk Radio is a solid album, one which harkens back to an era not nearly as bygone as we might have imagined. —Crispen Kott

Sure she'd probably shy away from my oncoming swirl of hyperbole, but Erin Hobson has quickly risen to the cream of Hudson Valley songwriters and performers for a variety of well deserved, overdue, and obvious reasons. Her songs are wide open and honest, serving as deft observations on all the victories and foibles of our miraculous existence. She has a wonderful clear, true voice, a beguiling stage presence and plays the hell out of her guitar.

"The Compact is a collaboration is the truest sense of the word. With Talk Radio they've provided a sturdy vehicle that takes us a comforting, yet slightly mysterious place. Hobson inhabits that mysterious land somewhere between girl/woman.

Talk Radio, their debut album, presents unusually well crafted songs with shimmering, gorgeous production. with echoes of Shawn Colvin, The Roches and yes...even The Boss! Melancholia has never been so much fun." Big Joe Fitz, WDST's Bluesbreak.

- Big Joe Fitz, WDST's Bluesbreak

"All very intimate and thoughtful and most importantly, believable. All in all, excellent. Well done Erin and Steven." Andy Newmark, drummer extraordinaire, John Lennon, Sly And The Family Stone, David Bowie, B.B. King, Carly Simon, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Rickie Lee Jones, Roxy Music, Sting, Pink Floyd, etc.

I've been a big fan of The Erin Hobson Compact's live shows for a few years now, but now
there's another reason to rejoice, their first full-length album "Talk Radio" is now available!

Produced by bassist, co-writer, and advertising guru Steven W. Ross, Erin's debut album is chock full of great songs. My favorite is "Divide," featuring a rockabilly groove set on fire with Erin's superlative fret work. Justin Foy, WDST, Radio Woodstock, Woodstock, NY

Today was my first chance to listen to your CD I'm glad I did ... I think the album is great. A terrific listen ... Bravo! Peter Erskine, Jazz drummer and composer, Steely Dan, Weather Report, Diana Krall.

"Erin's voice wraps around you like a fleece blanket on an autumn evening--warm and cozy, it keeps the chill of the world off." Brian Mahoney, Editor Chronogram

Erin Hobson is certainly one of the better guitarists in the Hudson Valley area, and surely one of the only strong female soloists around, period. The Compact’s songs of life and love are sung with deep emotion and vulnerability, and played with heart and soul, so much so, you’ll want to play them over and over again. Commercial not because they appeal to the lowest common de- nominator, but because they’re just really good. Remember? The way it used to be. David Malachowski, Kingston Daily Freeman

The songs are wonderful. A great job with the production. The instrumentation is lush -- it's
really very good. Robyn Flans, celebrity journalist with Modern Drummer Magazine, The
Emmys, Oscars and Golden Globes, In Touch, American Profile, Statement Magazine.

Hard to define, Easy to Love! What do you get if you combine two parts acoustic coffee house, one part Latin jazz, and then throw in a dash of alternative rock? You get The Erin Hobson Compact. Tough to categorize, this group’s sensitivity, sensual musicality and social awareness span too many musical genres to count in one review.

Some have called Hobson a female John Mayer. On stage, she exudes a sense of unself-
conscious joy as she colors her songs with lush chords and expands them with virtuoso solos. Bassist, producer and co-writer, Steven W. Ross hits upon arrangements and provides lyrical syncopations that showcase Hobson’s impressive guitar skills and haunting vocals. At once innocent and knowing, these songs feel like the soundtrack to some perfect indie romantic film – one which hasn’t been made yet.

The debut album’s title track, “Talk Radio,” just may be an anthem for the Jon Stewart generation. There’s been industry buzz about Hobson’s music for years, but so far, she hasn’t yet found the wider audience she deserves. Talk Radio may be the album that changes all that. Alisa Kwitney, journalist and author of Vertigo Visions: Art From The Cutting Edge Of Comics.

David Malachowski
Reviewer

ARTIST: Erin Hobson Compact

ALBUM: “Talk Radio” (Choking Chicken Records)

Certainly one of the better guitarists in the Hudson Valley area, and surely one of the only strong female soloists around, period, Red Hook’s Erin Hobson has finally come into her own with this fine release.

Hobson has spent time in Los Angeles, and these days plays all over the area with her group, the Erin Hobson Compact. Often such luminaries like drummer Gary Burke and keyboardist Ross Rice can be seen accompanying her.

Jumping around genres like a true musician, Hobson hops between the pure pop of “Like This” and “Holding On,” the country tinged “Divide” and even the folkish, fiddle-enhanced “Brick Wall.”

The wistful title track “Talk Radio” is a high point, as are the dramatic, desire-fueled “Good Stuff,” the yearning “Crash” and the dreamy and liquid “Too Late.” The moving “Leave The Light On” brings it all home.

Her songs of life and love are sung with deep emotion and vulnerability, and played with heart and soul, so much so, you’ll want to play them over and over again. Hobson is commercial not because she blatantly pushes buttons and appeals to the lowest common denominator, but because she’s just really good.

Remember? The way it used to be.

Far From Home was produced by Chris Cubeta and recorded in Poughkeepsie. Here Hobson's honest, revealing lyrics light up "Never Knew Me," in which a melodic, slinky slide line makes for a gorgeous hook. An impressive guitar ride pushes the moody "Dreaming in Blue," while Hobson's emotional delivery digs deep in "Lust," a luxurious, rainy afternoon love fest you can only dream you were part of. Hobson herself is without an ounce of pretense, but the music is deceptively powerful and full of grace and gravity.

Erin Hobson - The Good Stuff
With all the ladies delving into singer/songwriter mode, L.A.'s Erin Hobson may have something special. She has a wonderfully emotive vocal timbre, somewhat reminiscent of Eddie Brickell and also proves to have talents in providing the acoustic guitar vehicle for her words. "Dreaming in Blue" tugs at your emotions as Erin turns the vocal power up a notch, and "Fish in the Sea" shows a more subtle facet to her vocal intensity. "Lust" has a more innocent appeal rather then a sultry approach as the title may suggest. Passionate and ear catching music.

"The Good Stuff"

Genre: acoustic

Reviewed by Madalyn Sklar

What a refreshing CD! This L.A. singer/songwriter is a gem. Passionate lyrics, a beautiful voice and skillful guitar playing keep me coming back for more.

Hit Picks: "Good Stuff" and "Fish In The Sea"

Best Song of the Month Winner!

"Far From Home" (AAA/pop).

Written and performed by Erin Hobson of Rhinebeck, NY.