It's easy to see why members of the now-defunct
Morphine joined
Bourbon Princess (featuring singer/bass player Monique Ortiz). Her music is eerily reminiscent of
Morphine, whose lead singer/bassist
Mark Sandman died of a heart attack. Ortiz's bass playing is up front with the occasional trickle of sax (courtesy
Dana Colley, formerly of
Morphine and producer of "Black Feather Wings") and dobro. The album
Black Feather Wings is moody, but Ortiz keeps her dry sense of humor in check: in the sprightly "I'll Take a Cab," she sings, "You seedy, tired piece of trash/Trying to get my sympathy/Yeah, maybe if I feel bad enough I'll drop down and give you some/Yeah, right." The slow drawl of "Early Train" tells of a tryst that is, in afterthought, uncomfortable: "My panties stuffed in my coat/I fumble for some change/I really don't remember much/But I know I feel quite strange."
Morphine fans mourning the loss of
Sandman should give this a spin.