The Watson Twins

Talking to You, Talking to Me (Vanguard)

By Molly Lynch
Published: February 23rd, 2010 | 7:00am

Ever since Chandra and Leigh Watson’s less-than-sizzling, sans Jenny Lewis debut, Fire Songs (Vanguard), dropped in 2008, it has seemed as if the cards have been stacked against the identical twin sisters in successfully making any sort of folk gem without the powerful Rilo Kiley frontwoman.

Even though their sophomore release, Talking to You, Talking to Me, does in fact sizzle, The Watson Twins have released an album that still fails to really spark. The songs hit the mark in marrying satisfactory measures of ethereal harmonies with razor-sharp, whiskey-induced lyrics that seem to tell of a lovelorn past, but what lady-centric modern folk record doesn’t adhere to this law these days?

The 40-minute album could easily serve as the soundtrack to a number of life’s stories, and sadly, that seems to be its true detriment. Each of the 12 songs, like the sisters themselves, become difficult to distinguish from one another as the tempo rarely changes. While The Watson Twins’ vintage Southern charm continues to win over fans, the duo’s lack of variety in another mediocre Rabbit Fur Coat (Team Love) follow-up ultimately leaves listeners searching for more and once again fails to launch the Watson’s to the masses.

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