Juanita and the Rabbit

Feeling the Love//AMPLIFIED!

A Detroit garage/bluesy-type of feel, wrapped in punk ethos

Record Label: The Lost Church
Release Year: 2008
Juanita and the Rabbit Homepage

Juanita and the Rabbit is a two-member piece band from San Francisco, California that has no one named Juanita, nor a rabbit; however, the band does consist of husband-and-wife duo Brett Cline (bass/vocals) and Elizabeth Cline (drums/vocal). Their style has a Detroit garage/bluesy-type of feel, wrapped in punk ethos... at least, that is the impression that I got upon listening to their album Feeling the Love//AMPLIFIED!. It's an eight-song LP that clocks in at a non-bloated 18:30. Of those eight tracks, there are two that stood out in my mind: "Young Man" (especially the stick-to-your-convictions line, "I may not be a wise man/But I can smell a corporate whore") and their rendition of Bill Withers' seminal soul classic "Ain't No Sunshine" ("Ain't No Sunshine/Last Lady pt.2"-here, they are joined by Katie Friedman on cello). Duos have always been a constant in rock music, whether in the mainstream (Local H, White Stripes), under the radar (Mates of State, Dresden Dolls), or even a Hollywood vanity project (She & Him). Is there room for another? Yes. Yes, there is.

Review By José-Ariel Cuevas