Backseat Bordello is a duo from Los Angeles consisting of Danielle Egnew and Kristen Coyner on vocals and acoustic guitars. Both are members of Pope Jane, an all-female pop/rock band formed in Billings, Montana in 1995. The group later relocated to Los Angeles. This project was conceived by Coyner, who has spent the last 12 years playing drums in Pope Jane. She sought a different outlet for her songwriting, as well a vehicle for Egnew’s folk leanings.
“Dashboard Mary” starts things off with a guitar strumming and one of the women singing. Soon the other joins in on vocals. About two minutes in is a short guitar solo from Egnew. The song is about a woman who commits suicide by running the car engine in the garage with the door shut. “She nodded off with the radio on/ she always loved that Journey song/ now I lay me down to sleep/ Dashboard Mary my soul to keep.”
“Drag Me” has a short guitar solo with a slight flamenco influence.
“Morningside Lane” is a lively number that is likely about the women’s adjustment to the fast-lane lifestyle of Los Angeles after leaving a college town in Montana. “So I ran just as fast as I could/ but the city did just what I thought it would/ wouldn’t let me out.”
“Rise Up” is in the tradition of protest folk songs. It describes standing up for oneself in the face of prejudice. “They made us shameful/ they stole our pride/ they showed their hatred/ as their only side/ they turn our friends away/ they rule with fear/ they took our dignity/ all that we hold dear.”
“Copper Street” is one of the stronger tracks. The guitar work recalls the folk-leaning material of Led Zeppelin.
“Anybody” appears to be told from the perspective of a survivor of global nuclear war. “She picked up a blackened phone/ but there was no dial tone/ the earth had suddenly gone still/ against its will.”
“Blind” has a definite blues influence, with one guitar strumming chords while the other plays some down-home licks.
The pop sensibility of the vocals and music of “Go Away” make an interesting contrast with the rather violent lyrics. “You keep slinging mud, saying I’m the slinger/ well if you keep it up, then you’re gonna be in a tight little space/ with a face full of duct tape/ buried alive with your eyes looking to escape.”
The album closes with “Hallelujah,” a song written by Leonard Cohen in 1984 and covered by many artists since. Egnew and Coyner certainly do justice to this beautiful song, especially at the end with the multi-layered vocal tracks.
For more information visit www.backseatbordello.com.
