Sallie Ford is the real deal. With a voice that can belt, soothe, caress, and flat-out spit sass, attitude, and raw street emotion, she sounds like some sort of dream cross between Ella Fitzgerald and Janis Joplin, and her band, which includes Jeffrey Munger on guitar, Tyler Tornfelt on bass, and Ford Tennis on drums, has evolved from the swing rock of the group's debut full-length, 2011's Dirty Radio, into a solid garage rock outfit that snarls, prowls, and shouts right along with her. The album was recorded with Adam Landry and Justin Collins at Jackpot! Studios in the band's hometown of Portland, Oregon, and it sounds and feels like a big step forward for Ford, who, on songs like the raging and rocking "They Told Me," the stubborn and insistent "Party Kids," the jazzy ballad "Shivers," and "Devil," which is full of bad-girl swagger and rockabilly strut, she shakes off her influences and becomes a force all on her own. Ford is a rare talent and, for now at least, she's got the right band and seems headed in the right direction, not that Untamed Beast is a transitional album. It's a full-tilt arrival.
© Steve Leggett /TiVo