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LA WEEKLY PICKS OF THE WEEK - reviewed by Falling James
10/16/03

Former Tearjerkers front woman Anny Celsi possesses such a radiantly reassuring voice that it almost doesn’t matter what she’s singing about. Despite occasional song-title clichés ("Can’t Win ‘Em All") on her new album, Little Black Dress & Other Stories (Ragazza Music), she usually does have something beguiling to say, as on the title tune, where she confides, "I gave you my everything, and now I want it back." Amid the uptempo jangle of "Empty Hangers," Celsi lets slip another quietly devastating line, "Every girl deserves a nervous breakdown." She croons the deceptively breezy "Summer Fling" and "Day After Tomorrow" with a warmth that’s similar to the Bangles’ Vicki Peterson, and her harmonica retorts imbue the equally winning "He’s Always Looking at the Sky" with a Bob Dylan flavor. On the CD, her folksy melodies are fleshed out by a who’s-who lineup of stellar locals — including Marvin Etzioni, Steve Barton, Randy Weeks and Phil Parlapiano — and she’s joined tonight by ex-Plimsouls guitarist Eddie Muñoz. (Falling James)

 http://www.laweekly.com/calendar/picks/scoring.php

 

Rock Picks  By L.A. Weekly Music Staff

SATURDAY, November 11, 2006 - Anny Celsi & the Black Dress Band at Mr. T’s Bowl

Singer-songwriter Anny Celsi finds herself sleeplessly obsessed by those bad boys in black jeans, so even though she’s a good girl, she’s not above using devious trickery and her feminine wiles to snag their attention on her 2003 album, Little Black Dress & Other Stories (Ragazza Music). She slips into something slinky for the cool jazz of “All I’m Gonna Say,” strutting smartly down dark alleys alongside rumbling piano and rolling tom-toms. She kicks up her heels on the upbeat country-pop tune “No Time Like Now,” accompanied by sweetly consoling harmonies, and is clear-eyed and in clear voice on the wistful romantic resignation of “Day After Tomorrow.” Celsi (pronounced “Chelsea”) is well-read, dropping allusions to Theodore Dreiser and Truman Capote, and her lyrics to the waltzing ballad “So Many Bad Dreams” glow with evocative imagery: “Now I’m hitchhiking west/the cars are like lightning bolts/every truck disappears in a curtain of steam/and the highway is littered with blankets and overcoats.” Arrive early tonight, as she’s opening for simpatico pop revisionists Adam Marsland’s Chaos Band and reunited Silver Lake heroes Velouria. (Falling James)