Sarah Kernochan - Decades of Demos (2014)

Best known as a filmmaker (Marjoe) and screenwriter, Sarah Kernochan recorded a pair of provocative albums as a singer/songwriter in the '70s. She surveys songs from those days—as well as more recent compositions—on Decades of Demos, her first release as an artist in nearly 40 years. Time hasn’t dimmed the wit and quirkiness of Kernochan’s older tunes. Offered here in piano/vocal form, songs like “No Need,” “Saugerties Summer 1974,” and “Down on My Love” are closely observed vignettes of human behavior that combine perceptive lyrics with melodies inspired by musical theater and ‘60s pop. Especially good along these lines is “Sleeparound Town,” a dreamlike slice of erotic musing first heard on Kernochan’s 1974 album Beat Around the Bush. The moody, synth-accented “Here Goes Nothing” and the risqué girl-group number “The Hairy Bird” (from the film of the same title) are also standouts. Live versions of the piquant “Due to Rain” and the wry-to-outrageous “Can I Get on Top This Time” round out this welcome collection by an artist worthy of rediscovery.