Exene Cervenka - The Excitement of Maybe

This Exene Cervenka album may come as a shock to anyone familiar with the singer/songwriter’s past work with the iconic punk band X and may even surprise fans of The Knitters, the folk-rock offshoot of X. Is it a good album?

Cervenka’s most common emotion is sadness. That, and loneliness. She expresses these feelings best in “Alone in Arizona.” With its sad acoustic mood, which sounds at times like an early R.E.M. song, Cervenka sings about the dread of losing a lover. “My heart’s in California/I’m alone in Arizona,” Cervenka cries. Sonically, it comes off like a not-so-distant cousin to R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.”

Cervenka shows her happier side with “Falling.” “I’m falling for you,” she asks, “are you falling the same?” on a song where the woman falls first for the man. The instrumental backing is a light, country shuffle, with just enough pedal steel guitar to make it pretty – but not sad – country.

Folk is probably the most accurate description of these 12 songs (plus a bonus track). However, Cervenka reaches for some wonderful acoustic country on “Dirty Snow.” She sounds desperate, especially when her voice quivers ever so nicely. The song is also highlighted by some wonderful honky-tonk acoustic piano.

This talented lady won’t make any of today’s country divas nervous. She’s certainly not honing in on their territory. However, this is one of the prettiest CDs you’ll likely hear this year. Maybe it’s age that has mellowed Cervenka so much. She is a kind of punk grandmother now, after all. Nevertheless, it’s difficult to get over what a fantastic singer she is. She’s the one that leaned heavily on Doe back in the early days of X, as he was the more experienced musician of the two. These days, though, Cervenka could give Taylor Swift a run for her money when it comes to musical sugar level.

Those of us that grew up with Southern California punk, which included acts like X, Bad Religion and Social Distortion, never could have imagined how well so many of these musicians would mature. If you would have told an X fan in 1979 that Exene would one day make an album like The Excitement of Maybe, that person may well have spat in your face. Hopefully, many of these same old fans have stuck with artists like Cervenka because she’s developed into a lovely singer/songwriter to be reckoned with.

The big name female artists in country music may be morphing into powerful divas these days. Yet at the same time, under-the-radar performers like Cervenka are creating gems that it would be cruel to ignore. The link between Cervenka and The Carter Family may have seemed like a crazy fantasy to music fans many decades ago, but with the release of The Excitement of Maybe, it’s just a perfectly natural evolution.

 

Buy: Amazon | Amazon CD | iTunes

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