Her blues tinted rock is catchy without feeling like it’s sacrificing creativity or composition.

Artist: Carol Bui
Album: This Is How I Recover
Label: Drunken Butterfly Records
Tracks: 10
Review By: Jacob Gehman

Carol Bui fills a nice void in indie music. Her blues tinted rock is catchy without feeling like it’s sacrificing creativity or composition. One moment Bui can snarl, the next she can swoon.

She is an exceptional guitar player, both in actual skill and her ability to convey specific atmospheres in her playing. Very few female guitar players (especially in the indie scene) can do what she does song in and song out. Bui uses both electric and acoustic guitar to great effect. Less skillful is her singing. She’s not a bad singer by any stretch of the imagination. And as far as technical skill goes, she’s pretty good. Her voice lacks that certain punch to them to make them lasting. But they are a decent compliment to the guitar playing and song composition.

The biggest distraction to the album is that it sounds very indie. The production is hollow and weak. The mix is rather muddy. As a result the songs don’t ripple with power as they should otherwise. I’m sure that hearing these songs live would be quite the experience.

Definitely check out Carol Bui sound clips and see what you think. It’s a pretty good, if flawed, listen.