KWLC Review: CocoRosie

I was recently looking through the various rock albums KWLC receives every month, trying to find something I hadn’t heard before. Granted, I’m always finding new artists on the rock shelves that rock my soul to the core, but this particular day, I found an album with a cover so funky that I almost put it back, thinking to myself, “Dang, that must be some janky music.” Something told me to give it a listen. Maybe it was the rock gods trying to bring my being into a new level of music: freak folk.

The album is by CocoRosie, a band created by two sisters, Bianca and Sierra Cassidy. They grew up in the United States but made their magical music in Paris, France. The duo incorporates a wide variety of instruments in their music, including drums, children’s toys and other unusual sounds. The music is heavily influenced by folk music, but because of its oddities, the band CocoRosie has claimed the genre freak folk.

In their newest album, “Grey Oceans,” CocoRosie shows diversity in their songs. The album has slow, somber numbers like “Gallows,” which plays more on the magic sound they create using soft harmonies and instruments such as the harp and xylophone. Bianca and Sierra have similar soft, dreamy and powerful voices with quirky and unique characteristics.

Many of their songs include a type of vocalization that verges on the edge of being spoken word and free-verse rap. The song “Here I Come,” which is heavily reminiscent of southern gospel music, demonstrates this.

CocoRosie explores another realm of musicality in their song “Smokey Taboo,” incorporating various exotic instruments from the Middle East.

CocoRosie has the ability to rock in a new, freaky way. I urge you not to judge their album by its cover, but rather by their exceptional music. I’m telling you, it’s like nothing you’ve ever heard.